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| The Amulet of the Serpent's Head |
The amulet of the serpent's head was settled on the dead body to keep it from being burnt by snakes in the Scheol or tomb. It is made of red gemstone, red jasper, red paste, and carnelian. As the goddess Isis is often typified by a serpent, and red is a coloring peculiar to her, it looks as if the idea base the use of this amulet was to beat the snakes in the tomb by implies of the power of the great snake-goddess Isis. This power had been transported to it by means of the words of the "XXXIVth Chapter" of the (
Book of the Dead), which are often inscribed upon it. The text reads:
"O Serpent! I am the flame which shineth upon the Undoer of hundreds of thousands of years, and the regular of the god Tenpu".
or as others say, "the regular of young plants and flowers. Depart ye from me, for I am the sacred Lynx." Some have thought that the snake's head represents the ophidian which exceeds the ram's head on the urhekau tool used in performing the ceremony of (Opening the mouth).
