Ra

Ra (/rɑː/;^[1] Egyptian: Rꜥ, Rˤ) or Re (/reɪ/; Coptic: ⲣⲏ, Rē) is the ancient Egyptian sun god.

By the Fifth Dynasty in the 25th and 24th centuries BC, he had become a major god in ancient Egyptian religion, identified primarily with the noon sun.

In later Egyptian dynastic times, Ra was merged with the god Horus, as Ra-Horakhty ("Ra, who is Horus of the Two Horizons").

He was believed to rule in all parts of the created world: the sky, the earth, and the underworld.^[2]

He was associated with the falcon or hawk.

When in the New Kingdom the god Amun rose to prominence he was fused with Ra as Amun-Ra.

During the Amarna Period, Akhenaten suppressed the cult of Ra in favor of another solar deity, the Aten, the deified solar disc, but after the death of Akhenaten the cult of Ra was restored.

The cult of the Mnevis bull, an embodiment of Ra, had its center in Heliopolis and there was a formal burial ground for the sacrificed bulls north of the city.

All forms of life were believed to have been created by Ra, who called each of them into existence by speaking their secret names. Alternatively man was created from Ra's tears and sweat, hence the Egyptians call themselves the "Cattle of Ra." In the myth of the Celestial Cow it is recounted how mankind plotted against Ra and how he sent his eye as the goddess Sekhmet to punish them. When she became bloodthirsty she was pacified by drinking beer mixed with red dye.

To the Egyptians, the sun represented light, warmth, and growth. This made the sun deity very important, as the sun was seen as the ruler of all that he created. The sun disk was either seen as the body or eye of Ra. Ra was the father of Shu and Tefnut, whom he created. Shu was the god of the wind, and Tefnut was the goddess of the rain. Sekhmet was the Eye of Ra and was created by the fire in Ra's eye. She was a violent lioness.

Ra was worshipped as the Creator god among some ancient Egyptians, specifically followers of his cult at Heliopolis.^[3] It was believed that Ra wept, and from his tears came man.^[3] These cult-followers believed that Ra was self-created, while followers of Ptah believed that Ra was created by Ptah.^[4] In a passage of the Book of the Dead, Ra cuts himself, and his blood transforms into two intellectual personifications: Hu, or authority, and Sia, or mind.^[3] Ra is also accredited with the creation of the seasons, months, plants, and animals.

The rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire put an end to the worship of Ra by the citizens of Egypt,^[6] and as Ra's popularity suddenly died out, the study of Ra became of purely academic interest even among the Egyptian priests.^[7]