Asp (snake)

"Asp" is the modern anglicisation of the word "aspis", which in antiquity referred to any one of several venomous snake species found in the Nile region.^[1] The specific epithet, aspis, is a Greek word that means "viper".^[2] It is believed that aspis referred to what is now known as the Egyptian cobra.^[3]

^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. 2007. ISBN 978-0199206872.
^ Gotch AF. 1986. Reptiles – Their Latin Names Explained. Poole, UK: Blandford Press. 176 pp. ISBN 0-7137-1704-1.
^ Schneemann, M.; R. Cathomas; S.T. Laidlaw; A.M. El Nahas; R.D.G. Theakston; D.A. Warrell (August 2004). "Life-threatening envenoming by the Saharan horned viper (Cerastes cerastes) causing micro-angiopathic haemolysis, coagulopathy and acute renal failure: clinical cases and review" (PDF). QJM: An International Journal of Medicine. 97 (11): 717–27. doi:10.1093/qjmed/hch118. PMID 15496528. Whether Cleopatra used a snake as the instrument of her suicide has been long debated. Some favour the idea that she chose C. cerastes, but its venom is insufficiently potent, rapid and reliable. A more plausible candidate is the Egyptian cobra or 'asp' (Naja haje).