The coiled serpent god who protected Ra during his nightly underworld journey was Mehen. His name means “the coiled one,” and Egyptian funerary texts portray him winding around the solar god or his barque as a protective guardian in the Duat.
Each night, Ra was believed to travel through the underworld after the sun set in the west. Mehen’s encircling body provided a defensive barrier against the hostile forces and monsters encountered during the voyage. The imagery made the serpent a symbol of protection and helped connect Ra’s nightly passage with renewal and rebirth at dawn.
Mehen is not the same figure as Apep, also called Apophis. Apep was the enormous serpent of chaos who attacked the sun barque and tried to prevent sunrise; Mehen defended Ra against such threats. Wadjet was a cobra goddess associated with royal protection, while Nehebkau had other protective and underworld functions. The name Mehen was also given to an ancient Egyptian board game, although the precise relationship between the game and the deity remains uncertain.