Ra - "Sun"



RA

Translation -- "Sun"
Cult Center -- Heliopolis

Embodied in the golden disk which is His symbol, Ra is the god of light, heat and vitality -- the power inherent in the Sun which warms and gives life to our planet. In several forms, Ra was venerated as the central god of the Egyptian faith during its entire history.

Ra was considered both Father and the King of All Gods, the "Great One" who both creates and destroys.

Ra rose to prominence in the first dynasties of the Old Kingdom, who venerated Him as their family patron. The kings began to call themselves "Sons of Ra" in their official titularies and constructed great sun-temples and pyramids. The pyramids are considered a special symbol of Ra via their connection to the Ben-Ben, the pyramid-shaped stone from which rose the Raas a Bennu - the white heron called Phoenix by the Greeks. In the First Time the Phoenix sang the song of creation in Ra's honor.


Ra's popularity, as pervasive as sunlight itself, continued throughout all of Egyptian history. Even great Gods such as Amon and Ptah had to 'share the spotlight' with Ra. In the case of both Amun and Horus, composite Gods -- Amon-Ra, King of the Gods, and Ra-Horakhty, Lord of Sunrise -- were created to avoid slighting either cult. (By New Kingdom times Amon-Ra had power and wealth to rival even the royal house.)

Ra 'lived' within the actual physical disk of sun, mythologically described as "The Boat of Millions of Years" which rises and sets each day, riding from horizon to horizon on the back (or belly) of the Goddess Nut, and traversing during the hours of darkness the nether worlds where the enemies of Ma'at reside.

Even today in Egypt the sun is often referred to as Ra, especially on bright summer days.