The Uraeus, or asp, is a benevolent guardian god, a tutelary god of the delta region of Egypt. This
is probably where this snake was most often found. Even today the swamp-like areas of the Nile
delta is home to the Egyptian cobra. This snake was also connected to the god Horus, and therefore
with the living Horus, who is seen incarnate in the Pharaoh. The Uraeus rules by day, and
therefore is also connected to the sun god Ra, who is also a god of Pharaoh. (source)
In the original Egyptian creation story we find a serpent and the primordial egg, which contained
the " Bird of Light" . In Chapter 175 of the Book of the Dead we find the prophecy that when the
world returns to its original chaos, the hidden aspect of the supreme god, Atum, will become the
new serpent.

In the Book of the Dead, in the Eleventh section of the Tuat, we find the story of how the
boat of Afu Ra [the sun god] passes the territory of the town of Sais. "The region to the left of the
god is one of fire, and close to the boat stands Horus who is working magic with the sake-headed
boomerang which he holds in his hand, Before him stands the serpent god, called 'Seth-heh', i.e.
the 'eternal Seth'. Before the boat is the great serpent Ankh-neteru, and twelve amikhiu gods,
taking hold of the tow line, enter this serpent at the tail, and drawing the god in his boat through
the body of the serpent, bring him out at his mouth.

During his passage through the serpent, Afu Ra is transformed into Khepera [ the ancient god
associated with the creation of the world] and is now towed into the sky by 12 goddesses."

The Egyptians also adopted the ancient Persian god Azhi Dahaka, the sky serpent who formed all of
the observable heavenly planets. So, in one sense powerful gods of both light and darkness are seen
as serpents. This may have some connection to the linking of the snake to the moon in the
mythological and psychological areas.

This identification is intensified because of the waxing and waning of the moon, demonstrating the
death of the old and the rebirth of the new and forever young.

One of the chief powers of this darkness is the serpent god Apep, who tries to swallow the sun ship.
Apep [or Apepi or Apophis] is the great primordial serpent who lived in the waters of the celestial
Nile [the Milky Way] and is considered the serpent of chaos and destruction. A mighty struggle took
place and when the sun appeared in the east the next day prayers of thankfulness were offered that Ra
was triumphant and the sun would continue to shine.

Before we leave Egypt we must briefly mention two other aspects of the divine serpent; Nehebu-Kau
is the great snake under the world and upon which the world rests, and there is a winged serpent
found in hieroglyphs which may be the ancestor of our Mesoamerican Quetzalcoatl.

Set, or Seth, or Sethos. This is a half-crocodile, half -human creature who becomes important in the Egyptian pantheon and its relation to the Hebrews. Crocodile gods of Africa are depicted as serpents. The original priesthood of the serpent god, Set, in ancient Egypt survived for twenty-five recorded dynasties (ca. 3200-700BCE). Set was originally a stellar deity, perhaps the cyclical counterpart of the solar Horus. But, later, the cults of Osiris and Isis recast Set as an evil principle. (source)

As discussed by Josoph Campbell, we should not underestimate the importance of the stars for the ancients. People have always placed serpentine constellations in their skys.

Renenutet, the 'Lady of Aat', an Egyptian harvest Goddess was also a deity of childbirth and nursing, and Mertseger, who has a human head and snake body gaurds the Theban necropolis, 'She who loves Silence'. (source) Egyptians said of the snake ..."they have power - Hike - but Geb (God of the Earth), with his written instructions, has knowledge.

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