What was the name of the serpent deity that Ra fought each night? Apep, also called Apophis, was the serpent deity who attacked Ra during his nightly journey.
In Egyptian cosmology, Ra travelled through the sky by day and entered the underworld, or Duat, after sunset. There he sailed in a solar barque toward rebirth at dawn. Apep represented chaos, darkness and destructive disorder, threatening to halt the boat, swallow the Sun or overpower the forces that maintained maat, the cosmic principle of order and balance.
Apep was not simply a monster killed once and forgotten. His nightly attacks expressed the recurring danger of chaos, while Ra’s repeated victories explained the Sun’s return each morning. Other gods, including Set and Mehen in different traditions, could assist Ra during the struggle.
Egyptian priests performed rituals intended to weaken Apep. Texts known as the Books of Overthrowing Apep describe symbolic acts such as binding, stabbing, burning or dismembering an image of the serpent. The Greek name Apophis is the source of the familiar alternate form.