Ra

By the Fifth Dynasty, in the 25th and 24th centuries BC, he had become one of the most important gods in ancient Egyptian religion, identified primarily with the noon-day sun.

In the myth of the Celestial Cow, it is recounted how humankind plotted against Ra and how he sent his eye as the goddess Sekhmet to punish them.

At an early period in Egyptian history, his influence spread throughout the whole country, bringing multiple representations in form and in name.

[12] The universe was enrapt by a vast mass of primordial waters, and the Benben, a pyramid mound, emerged amid this primal chaos.

[12] Ra was thought to travel on the Atet, two solar barques called the Mandjet (the Boat of Millions of Years) or morning-boat and the Mesektet or evening-boat.

[9] 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.

[9] Ra was portrayed as a man with the head of most likely either a lanner or peregrine falcon,[16] adorned with a sun disk with a Cobra around it,[9] and shared characteristics with the sky-god Horus.

Ra was also pictured as a full-bodied ram, beetle, phoenix, heron, serpent, bull, cat, or lion, among others.

[9] In some literature, Ra is described as an aging king with golden flesh, silver bones, and hair of lapis lazuli.

[9] The chief cultic center of Ra was Iunu "the Place of Pillars", later known to the Ptolemaic Kingdom as Heliopolis (Koinē Greek: Ἡλιούπολις, lit.

As Atum or Atum-Ra, he was reckoned the first being and the originator of the Ennead ("The Nine"), consisting of Shu and Tefnut, Geb and Nut, Osiris, Set, Isis and Nephthys.

His worship increased massively in the Fifth Dynasty, when Ra became a state-deity and pharaohs had specially aligned pyramids, obelisks, and sun temples built in his honor.

[9] The first Pyramid Texts began to arise, giving Ra more and more significance in the journey of the pharaoh through the Duat (underworld).

Many acts of worship included hymns, prayers and spells to help Ra and the sun-boat overcome Apophis.

A very ancient god, Montu was originally a manifestation of the scorching effect of Ra, the sun – and as such often appeared under the epithet Montu-Ra.

Ra on the solar barque on his daily voyage across the sky (𓇯), adorned with the sun-disk
Jewelry of Ra as a falcon with spread wings, adorned with the sun-disk and holding the ankh , the hieroglyphic symbol of life
Inlay depicting the squatting Ra with the sun-disk placed atop his falcon head
Ra in his ram-headed form traveling through the underworld in his solar barque on the subterrestrial Nile, from the copy of the Book of Gates in the tomb of Ramses I ( KV16 )
Ra and Imentet from the tomb of Nefertari , 13th century BC
Painted wood panel showing a woman with arms upraised toward a man with a falcon's head and a sun-disk crown. Chains of flowers-like shapes radiate from the disk toward the woman's face.
A woman worships Ra-Horakhty, who blesses her with rays of light. [ 19 ]
Ra and Amun , from the tomb of Ramses IV .
Pyramidion of Khonsu, with the image of Ra-Horakhty in the middle.
Sculpture of Thutmose III (now headless), who stands hand in hand with the god Montu-Ra (falcon-headed) and the goddess Hathor.
Ra in the form of Great Cat, slays Apophis [ 41 ]