I have a theory--based on the great deal of Egyptian glyphs and such that we've seen on the show--that Jacob is the current incarnation of Ma'at (or the concept of light and Truth) and the Man in Black is the current incarnation of Apep (or the Egyptian concept of darkness and Chaos). It would make much more sense of the Creepy!Child's comment, "You can't kill him." Likewise, the appearance of the Smoke Monster--in particular its snake-like form--would illustrate such a connection. The Egyptians portrayed Apep as a giant serpent. Ma'at was later called Ra--the sun god. So in that respect, this very well could be a struggle between light and darkness--ultimate good vs ultimate evil.
This would also make sense of the giant statue of Taweret on the island. She was Apep's demon-wife and--interestingly enough--was a goddess of fertility and childbirth. Kinda significant given the fact that for the longest time, any woman who got pregnant on the island either died horribly or the child died. Maybe that didn't happen until AFTER the statue was destroyed.
Taweret is closely related, in appearance at least, to Ammut, also called the "Devouress of the Dead." She attended the Judging of the Dead in the Judgement Hall of the Two Truths during the Weighing of the Heart ceremony, and devoured those who were sinners in life.
Another interesting note: as Egyptian culture evolved, the dichotomy between Ma'at and Apep transformed into the myths of the endless opposition between Osiris and Set and later Horus and Set.
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This would also make sense of the giant statue of Taweret on the island. She was Apep's demon-wife and--interestingly enough--was a goddess of fertility and childbirth. Kinda significant given the fact that for the longest time, any woman who got pregnant on the island either died horribly or the child died. Maybe that didn't happen until AFTER the statue was destroyed.
Taweret is closely related, in appearance at least, to Ammut, also called the "Devouress of the Dead." She attended the Judging of the Dead in the Judgement Hall of the Two Truths during the Weighing of the Heart ceremony, and devoured those who were sinners in life.
Another interesting note: as Egyptian culture evolved, the dichotomy between Ma'at and Apep transformed into the myths of the endless opposition between Osiris and Set and later Horus and Set.