Ra

Ra (also known as Re) is the God of the sun and is one of the oldest Egyptian Gods. Ra is normally portrayed as a man with a head of a falcon along with a sun disk on his head. However, Ra has other forms such as a man with a ram head or a scarab head.

In some versions of Egyptian Mythology he has been combined with other sun gods. A popular example of this is when he is fused together with the other sun God Atum to create the god Re-Atum. Re-Atum has the jobs and tasks of both Gods put together. [1]

Ra has the power of the sun and is even interpreted as being the sun itself with his main task each day being to cross the sky in a solar boat [2]. Then when the sun sets Ra goes down to the underworld to fight Apophis who is a massive serpent creature. If Ra wins it allows for the sun to rise again. [3]

References

• [1] R. H. Wilkinson, The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt, London: Thames & Hudson Ltd, 2003.
• [2] National Geographic, “Ra,” National Geographic, [Online]. Available: https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/9sun/. [Accessed 08 January 2024].
• [3] J. J. Mark, “Ra (Egyptian God),” World History Encyclopedia, 20 May 2021. [Online]. Available: https://www.worldhistory.org/Ra_(Egyptian_God)/. [Accessed 8 January 2024].