Ra 262

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 humans were 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 mixing beer with red
dye.

Role

Ra and the sun

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 in the underworld
Ra was thought to travel on two solar boats called the Mandjet (the Boat of Millions of Years), or morning boat and
the Mesektet, or evening boat.[] These boats took him on his journey through the sky and the Duat, the literal
underworld of Egypt. While Ra was on the Mesektet, he was in his ram-headed form.[] When Ra traveled in his sun
boat he was accompanied by various other deities including Sia (perception) and Hu (command) as well as Heka
(magic power). Sometimes members of the Ennead helped him on his journey, including Set who overcame the
serpent Apophis and Mehen who defended against the monsters of the underworld. When Ra was in the underworld,
he would visit all of his various forms.[]
Apophis, the God of chaos, was an enormous serpent who attempted to stop the sun boat's journey every night by
consuming it or by stopping it in its tracks with a hypnotic stare. During the evening, the Egyptians believed that Ra
set as Atum or in the form of a ram. The Mesektet, or the Night boat, would carry him through the underworld and
back towards the east in preparation for his rebirth. These myths of Ra represented the sun rising as the rebirth of the
sun by the sky goddess Nut; thus attributing the concept of rebirth and renewal to Ra and strengthening his role as a
creator god as well. When Ra was in the underworld, he merged with Osiris, the God of the dead, and through it
became the god of the dead as well.[]

Ra as creator
With the Ancient Egyptian's complicated polytheistic beliefs, Ra was worshipped as the creator god to some Ancient
Egyptians, specifically his followers at Heliopolis.[] It was believed that Ra wept, and from the tears he wept came
man.[] These cult-followers believed that Ra was self-created, while followers of Ptah believed that Ra was created
by Ptah.[] It is believed that this is the reason for pyramids of Old Kingdom worshippers at Heliopolis rarely
mentioning Ra.[] 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.[] Ra is also accredited with the creation of the
seasons, months, plants, and animals.[4]
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Iconography
Ra was represented in a variety of forms. The most usual form was a man with the head of a hawk and a solar disk
on top and a coiled serpent around the disk.[] Other common forms are a man with the head of a beetle (in his form
as Khepri), or a man with the head of a ram. Ra was also pictured as a full-bodied ram, beetle, phoenix, heron,
serpent, bull, cat, or lion, among others.[5]
He was most commonly featured with a ram's head in the Underworld.[] In this form, Ra is described as being the
"ram of the west" or "ram in charge of his harem.[]
In some literature, Ra is described as an aging king with golden flesh, silver bones, and hair of lapis lazuli.[]

Worship
The chief cult centre of Ra was Heliopolis (called Iunu,
"Place of Pillars", in Egyptian),[3] where he was
identified with the local sun-god Atum. Through Atum,
or as Atum-Ra he was also seen as the first being and
the originator of the Ennead, consisting of Shu and
Tefnut, Geb and Nut, Osiris, Set, Isis and Nephthys.
Oddly enough, this was the home of the Ennead that
was believed to be headed by Atum, with whom he was
merged. The holiday of 'The Receiving of Ra' was Ra on the Solar boat.
celebrated on May 26 in the Gregorian calendar.

His local cult began to grow from roughly the second dynasty, establishing Ra as a sun deity. By the fourth dynasty
the pharaohs were seen as Ra's manifestations on earth, referred to as "Sons of Ra". His worship increased massively
in the fifth dynasty, when Ra became a state deity and pharaohs had specially aligned pyramids, obelisks, and solar
temples built in his honor. The rulers of the fifth dynasty told their followers that they were sons of Ra himself and
the wife of the high priest of Heliopolis.[] These pharaohs spent most of Egypt's money on sun temples.[] The first
Pyramid Texts began to arise, giving Ra more and more significance in the journey of the pharaoh through the
Underworld.[]

During the Middle Kingdom era, Ra was increasingly affiliated and combined with other chief deities, especially
Amun and Osiris.
At the time of the New Kingdom, the worship of Ra had became more complicated and grander. The walls of tombs
were dedicated to extremely detailed texts that depicted Ra's journey through the underworld. Ra was said to carry
the prayers and blessings of the living with the souls of the dead on the sun boat. The idea that Ra aged with the sun
became more popular during the rise of the New Kingdom.
Many acts of worship included hymns, prayers, and spells to help Ra and the sun boat overcome Apep.
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]
Ra 264

Relationship to other gods

Gods merged with Ra

As with most widely worshiped Egyptian deities, Ra's
identity was often combined with other gods, forming
an interconnection between deities.
Amun and Amun-Ra
Amun was a member of the Ogdoad,
representing creation energies with Amaunet, a
very early patron of Thebes. He was believed to
create via breath, and thus was identified with the
wind rather than the sun. As the cults of Amun
and Ra became increasingly popular in Upper
and Lower Egypt respectively they were Ra and Amun, from the tomb of Ramses IV.

combined to create Amun-Ra, a solar creator

god. It is hard to distinguish exactly when this combination happened, but references to Amun-Ra appeared in
pyramid texts as early as the fifth dynasty. The most common belief is that Amun-Ra was invented as a new
state deity by the Theban rulers of the New Kingdom to unite worshipers of Amun with the older cult of Ra
around the 18th dynasty.[] Amun-Ra was given the official title "king of the gods" by worshippers, and images
show the combined deity as a red-eyed man with a lion's head that had a surrounding solar disk.[]

Atum and Atum-Ra

Atum-Ra (or Ra-Atum) was another composite deity formed from two completely separate deities, however
Ra shared more similarities with Atum than with Amun. Atum was more closely linked with the sun, and was
also a creator god of the Ennead. Both Ra and Atum were regarded as the father of the deities and pharaohs,
and were widely worshiped. In older myths, Atum was the creator of Tefnut and Shu, and he was born from
ocean Nun.
Ra-Horakhty
In later Egyptian mythology, Ra-Horakhty was more of a title or
manifestation than a composite deity. It translates as "Ra (who
is) Horus of the Horizons". It was intended to link Horakhty (as a
sunrise-oriented aspect of Horus) to Ra. It has been suggested
that Ra-Horakhty simply refers to the sun's journey from horizon
to horizon as Ra, or that it means to show Ra as a symbolic deity
of hope and rebirth. (See earlier section: Ra and the sun).
Khepri and Khnum
Khepri was a scarab beetle who rolled up the sun in the
mornings, and was sometimes seen as the morning manifestation
of Ra. Similarly, the ram-headed god Khnum was also seen as
the evening manifestation of Ra. The idea of different deities (or
different aspects of Ra) ruling over different times of the day c. 1298-1235 BCE Imentet and Ra from the tomb
of Nefertari.
was fairly common, but variable. With Khepri and Khnum
taking precedence over sunrise and sunset, Ra often was the
representation of midday when the sun reached its peak at noon. Sometimes different aspects of Horus were
used instead of Ra's aspects.
Ra 265

Raet-Tawy
Raet or Raet-Tawy was a female aspect of Ra; she did not have much of importance independently of him. In
some myths she was considered to be either Ra's wife or his daughter.[8]

Gods created by Ra
Bastet
Bastet is sometimes known as the "cat of Ra".[] She is also his daughter and is associated with Ra's instrument
of vengeance, the sun-god's eye.[] Bastet is known for decapitating the serpent Apophis (Ra's sworn enemy and
the "God" of Chaos) to protect Ra.[] In one myth, Ra sent Bastet as a lioness to Nubia.[]
Sekhmet
Sekhmet is another daughter of Ra.[] Sekhemet was depicted as a lioness or large cat, and was an "eye of Ra",
or an instrument of the sun god's vengeance.[] In one myth, Sekhmet was so filled with rage that Ra was forced
to turn her into a cow so that she would not cause unnecessary harm.[] In another myth, Ra fears that mankind
is plotting against him and sends Hathor (another daughter of Ra) to exterminate the human race.[] In the
morning Sekhmet goes to finish the job and drinks what appears to be blood.[] It turns out to be red beer, and
she is too intoxicated to finish the slaughter.[]
Hathor
Hathor is another daughter of Ra.[] When Ra feared that mankind was plotting against him, he sent Hathor as
an "eye of Ra" to exterminate the human race, later sending Sekhmet to finish the job.[] In one myth, Hathor
danced naked in front of Ra until he laughed to cure him of a fit of sulking.[] When Ra was without Hathor, he
fell into a state of deep depression.[9]

Rival gods
Ptah
Ptah is rarely mentioned in the literature of Old Kingdom Pyramids.[] This is believed by some to be a result of
the Ra-worshipping people of Heliopolis being the main writers of these inscriptions.[] Followers of Ra were
known to be jealous of Ptah.[] While some believed that Ra created himself, others believed that Ptah created
him.[10]
Isis
Isis frequently schemed against Ra, as she wanted her son Horus to have the power.[] In one myth, Isis created
a serpent to poison Ra and only gave him the antidote when he revealed his true name to her.[] Ra now feared
Isis, as with his secret name revealed she could use all her power against him and have Horus take over the
throne.[]
Apep
Apep also called Apophis, was the god of chaos and Ra's greatest enemy. He was said to lie just below the
horizon line, trying to devour Ra as Ra descended into the underworld. As he swallowed Ra, this led to the
setting of the sun and when he had completely swallowed Ra this lead to nighttime. He never succeeded in
completely swallowing Ra however as he eventually spit Ra back out, causing the sun to rise.
Ra 266

In popular culture
• Ra is the main villain of the 1994 film Stargate. In it, he is an alien that enslaves ancient Egyptians and brings
them to a planet halfway across the universe using a device known as a Stargate.
• In Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones must use the headpiece of the Staff of Ra to find
the location of the Ark of the Covenant, which is hidden in Tanis.
• In The Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan, Ra first appears in The Throne of Fire as a senile old man. In The
Serpent's Shadow, he is reborn with his mind intact and willingly abdicates his throne so that Horus can take over.
• In the multiplayer online battle arena video game Smite, Ra is a playable god.
• In season four of the Syfy reality television series Face Off, the contestant Eric F. created a Ra mummy based on
the Evil Dead franchise.
• In Yu-Gi-Oh!, Ra is an Egyptian God Card called "The Winged Dragon Of Ra" or "Sun Dragon Ra."

References
[1] Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition. Merriam-Webster, 2007. p. 1023
[3] The Routledge Dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses, George Hart ISBN 0-415-34495-6
[5] The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt, Wilkinson ISBN 0-500-05120-8
[6] Quirke, S. (2001). The cult of Ra: Sun-worship in ancient Egypt. (pp. 144). New York: Thames and Hudson.
[7] Müller, M. (2002). Ra. In D. B. Redford (Ed.), The ancient gods speak: A guide to Egyptian religion (pp. 328). New York: Oxford University
Press, USA.
[10] The World Almanac and Book of Facts 2011. p. 708.

Further reading
• Collier, Mark and Manley, Bill. How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs: Revised Edition. Berkeley: University of
California Press, 1998.
• Salaman, Clement, Van Oyen, Dorine, Wharton, William D, and Mahé, Jean-Pierre. The Way of Hermes: New
Translations of the Corpus Hermeticum and The Definitions of Hermes Trismegistus to Asclepius. Rochester:
Inner Traditions, 1999.
Raet-Tawy 267

Raet-Tawy
Raet / Raet-Tawy

A statue of Raet.

Female aspect of Ra

Name in hieroglyphs

Major cult center Medamud, el Tod, Thebes

Consort Montu

Raet (rˁỉ.t) or Raet-Tawy (rˁỉ.t-t3.wỉ) is an ancient Egyptian solar goddess, the female aspect of Ra. Her name is
simply the female form of Ra's name; the longer name Raet-Tawy means "Raet of the Two Lands" (Upper and
Lower Egypt).

Origins
First appears during the reign of the Fifth Dynasty, Raet is likely to have been a companion of Ra from the start, and
did not have a separate origin. Although she was called the lady of the sky and the gods, she never reached the
importance of Hathor, who was also considered the wife of Ra (or, in other myths, his daughter).[1]

Cult
Raet was also considered a wife of Montu,[2] and she formed a triad with him and Harpocrates in Karnak and
Medamud. Her feast day was in the fourth month of the reaping season.[1] The centers of her cult were at Medamud,
El-Tod, and Thebes. A demotic manual from the Roman period with hymns to Raet has survived in fragments.[3]