Snakes were very common in Egypt, not only in the marshy areas of the Nile Valley and the Delta but also in the desert. Snakebite was a very real danger for the Egyptians, especially because they were often barefoot and wore clothes that were not very protective. A late papyrus, now in the Brooklyn Museum, describes all kinds of snakes and the consequences of a bite in a scientific manner. Not surprisingly, such a dangerous reptile also appears in religious contexts. Numerous snake gods and particularly goddesses occur in texts and representations, and well-known goddesses such as Isis could also be perceived as a snake. Perhaps the most famous of all the snake goddesses was Wadjet, the protectress of Lower Egypt, who as the symbol of the dominion of the king over Egypt appears on his headdress along with the vulture goddess Nekhbet (see uraeus). Other important goddesses in the form of a snake were Meretseger, the goddess of the mountain peak el-Qurn on the west bank at Thebes, and Renenutet, the goddess of the harvest and fertility. The four goddesses in the Ogdoad of Hermopolis could also be depicted with snakes' heads. Of the gods, Nehebkau is usually depicted with the head of a snake and a human body. The personification of evil was Apophis (Apep), the archenemy of the sun god. According to a description in the Amduat, one of the funerary texts from the New Kingdom, he was extremely long: a sandbank more than 220 m x 220 m was completely covered by his coils. The Egyptians had many magico-religious spells to ward off the danger of snakebite as well as those to heal someone who had already been bitten. Such texts have not only survived on papyrus, but from the Late Period on were also inscribed on stelae. They were also decorated with scenes that were considered to help, such as the face of the god Bes and the child Harpocrates with, as a sign of victory, all the dangerous beasts that once threatened him in his hands and under his feet.