Ra - The Sun God

Ra - The Sun God

The Sun God in ancient Egypt was primarily known as Ra, he was often known as the king of the gods and was thus the patron of the pharaoh and one of the central gods in the Egyptian period. Ra was known to be the one who created everything and he was very powerful and popular and was worshipped all throughout Egypt. His worship was so enduring that in today’s time some believe that the Egyptian religion has just one god and that was Ra. Some other names by which the Sun god is known are Re Patron of: the sun, heaven, kingship, power, light.

Appearance

Ra most commonly appeared as a sun god who wore the sun disk on his head. He was also represented as a man having a hawk head and wearing a headdress with a sun disk.

The people in ancient Egypt believed that Ra was the ruler of heavens and he was the bringer of light, the god of the sun and the patron of the kings. As per legend its believed that the sun travels in the sky when Ra drives his chariot through the heavens. Initially Ra was linked only with the noon sun but later on he got associated with the presence of the sun at the entire day. Ra was said to be the commander of not just the sky, but the earth and the underworld as well.

What people in ancient Egypt believed about Ra

Ra different from other gods worshiped in ancient Egypt was strictly a celestial god. And its due to his position in the sky that he is able to watch over his independent children. Horus is said to be the proxy of Ra who rules on the earth. People in ancient Egypt took sun to be the source of life and the power. Light, energy and warmth of the sun was what helped the crops grow every season, Thus the cult of Ra was said to possess great power and was popularly known. By the fourth dynasty, the pharaohs were believed to be seen as incarnations of Ra for obtaining absolute powers. Many kings got temples and pyramids constructed in the honor of Ra to keep him happy and to guarantee a long and prosperous rule as a pharaoh.

Another belief about Ra by the ancient Egyptians was that he was swallowed every night by the sky goddess Nut, and was reborn every morning. Another belief was that Ra traveled though the underworld at night in which form he was represented as a man having a head of a ram.

The bottom line

Ra was worshipped widely throughout the country and he was referred as the principal sun god for centuries. The two variants of Ra which are popularly known are Amun Ra and Ra-Atum or Atum-Ra. Even today some Egyptologists and followers of Kemeticism believe Ra to be the supreme god of the sun and still honor him greatly. Ra was the almost universally-worshipped king of the gods and all-father of creation.