![]() Both serpents are manifestations of the deity Mehen, who in other funerary texts protects Ra in his underworld journey. The ouroboros is depicted twice on the figure: holding their tails in their mouths, one encircling the head and upper chest, the other surrounding the feet of a large figure, which may represent the unified Ra-Osiris ( Osiris born again as Ra). The text concerns the actions of the Ra and his union with Osiris in the underworld. One of the earliest known ouroboros motifs is found in the Enigmatic Book of the Netherworld, an ancient Egyptian funerary text in KV62, the tomb of Tutankhamun, in the 14th century BCE. ![]() Historical representations First known representation of the ouroboros, on one of the shrines enclosing the sarcophagus of Tutankhamun Ancient Egypt The snake biting its own tail is a fertility symbol in some religions: the tail is a phallic symbol and the mouth is a yonic or womb-like symbol. The ouroboros is often interpreted as a symbol for eternal cyclic renewal or a cycle of life, death and rebirth the snake's skin-sloughing symbolises the transmigration of souls. The term derives from Ancient Greek οὐροβόρος, from οὐρά oura 'tail' plus -βορός -boros '-eating'. Another wild rat snake was found having swallowed about two-thirds of its body. ![]() One captive snake attempted to consume itself twice, dying in the second attempt. Some snakes, such as rat snakes, have been known to consume themselves. It was adopted as a symbol in Gnosticism and Hermeticism and most notably in alchemy. The ouroboros entered Western tradition via ancient Egyptian iconography and the Greek magical tradition. The ouroboros or uroboros ( / ˌ j ʊər ə ˈ b ɒr ə s/ ) is an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon eating its own tail. For other uses, see Ouroboros (disambiguation).Īn ouroboros in a 1478 drawing in an alchemical tract
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