It would be a mistake, however, to read Set as a simple devil, and Egyptian religion did not. He has an essential positive function: each night, as the sun god sails his barque through the darkness of the underworld, it is Set, strong, violent, fearless, who stands at the prow and spears the monstrous serpent Apophis that would swallow the sun, so that the very disorder he embodies is turned to the defence of cosmic order.
For long stretches of Egyptian history Set was an honoured god, especially around his cult city of Ombos (Naqada) in Upper Egypt, and several pharaohs bore his name. His reputation darkened over time: from the later periods, and particularly after Egypt fell under foreign rulers with whom he was associated, Set was increasingly cast as the enemy, his images sometimes defaced. His changing standing is a caution against reading any Egyptian god as fixed; Set was, at different times and places, both a necessary guardian and the great adversary.