Ra (Pronounced Rah) (Rê and later Amun-Ra; reconstructed as *ri:ʕu) is the ancient Egyptian sun god. Amun, reconstructed Egyptian Yamānu (also spelled Amon, Amoun, Amen, and rarely Imen, Greek Ἄμμων Linguistic reconstruction is the practice of establishing the features of the unattested ancestor ( Proto-language) of one or more given languages Ancient Egypt was an Ancient Civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now He is a major deity in ancient Egyptian religion by the fifth dynasty. Ancient Egyptian religion encompasses the various religious beliefs and rituals practiced in Ancient Egypt from the predynastic period until the adoption of Christianity The Third Fourth Fifth and Sixth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title Old Kingdom. Identified primarily with the mid-day sun, the chief cult centre of Ra first was based in Heliopolis (ancient Inunu) meaning "City of the Sun". Noon (also midday) is the hour of 1200 in an observer's local time zone or more loosely a time near the middle of the day when workers in many countries take a meal break In later Egyptian dynastic times, Ra was subsumed into the god Horus, as Re-Horakhty (and many variant spellings). He commanded sky, earth, underworld. The sky is the part of the Atmosphere or of Outer space visible from the surface of any Astronomical object. EARTH was a short-lived Japanese vocal trio which released 6 singles and 1 album between 2000 and 2001 In the study of Mythology and Religion, the underworld (gr κάτω κόσμος) is a generic term approximately equivalent to the lay term Afterlife He was associated with the falcon. A falcon (fɔlkən or fælkən is any Species of raptor in the Genus Falco. Pharaohs were considered to be the children of Ra.
According to E. A. Wallis Budge he was the one god of Egyptian monotheism, of which all other deities were aspects, manifestations, phases, or forms. Sir Ernest Alfred Thompson Wallis Budge ( July 27, 1857 &ndash November 23, 1934) was an English Egyptologist, For the Celtic Frost album see Monotheist (album In Theology, monotheism (from Greek grc [[wiktμόνος μόνος]] [1] Ra itself, however, was also a monotheistic god. A Hymn to Rah (approx. 1370s BC) was written to stress the pantheistic nature of Rah to combat encroaching polytheism. Pantheism ( Greek: πάν ( 'pan') = all and θεός ( 'theos') = God it literally means " God is All Polytheism is belief in or worship of multiple Gods (usually assembled in a pantheon) together with associated Mythology and Rituals In it, several deities are described, not as beings in their own right, but certain forms of Rah. For example:
- "Praise be unto thee, O Ra, thou exalted Power, who dost enter into the habitations of Ament, behold [thy] body is Atum. For the Stargate character see Amonet (Stargate. In Egyptian mythology, Amunet (also spelled Amonet, Atum (alternatively spelled Tem, Temu, Tum, and Atem) is an important Deity in Egyptian mythology, whose cult centred "
- "Praise be unto thee, O Ra, thou exalted Power, who dost enter into the hidden palace of Anubis, behold [thy] body is Khepera. Anubis is the Greek name for a Jackal -headed god associated with Mummification and the afterlife in Egyptian mythology. This article is about the Egyptian god For the type of robot see Khepera mobile robot. " [2]
Ra is most commonly pronounced 'rah'. It is more likely, however, that it should be pronounced as 'rei', hence the alternative spelling Re rather than Rah. It is not known for sure what Ra's name means, but it is thought it may be a variant of or linked to 'creative', if not an original word for 'sun'. As his cult arose in the Egyptian pantheon, Rah often replaces Atum as the father, grandfather and great-grandfather of the deities of the Ennead, and becomes the creator of the world. Ancient Egyptian religion was Polytheistic and often Zoomorphic. For the neo-Platonist work by Plotinus see Enneads. For the Latin epic see Aeneid. Ra then was seen to have created Sekhmet, who becomes Hathor, the cow goddess, after she has sufficiently punished mankind as an avenging Eye of Ra, and so he is often said to be the father of both and brother to the god, Osiris. In Egyptian mythology, Sekhmet (also spelled Sachmet, Sakhet, Sekmet, Sakhmet and Sekhet; and given the Greek name In Egyptian mythology, Hathor (Pronounced Hah-Thor ( Egyptian for house of Horus) was originally a personification of the Milky Way Nearly all forms of life were supposedly created by Ra, who called each of them into existence by speaking their secret name. Eventually, humans were created from Ra's tears or sweat, leading to the Egyptians calling themselves the "Cattle of Ra".
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Symbolism
Ra is primarily depicted as a man in artwork, wearing a pharaoh's crown (a sign of his kingship over the deities) and the sun disk on his head. Often he had a falcon's head, much like Horus. Sometimes, Ra is portrayed differently according to the position of the sun in the sky. At sunrise he was the young boy Khepri, at noon the falcon-headed man Harakhty, and at sunset the elder Atum. This article is about the Egyptian god For the type of robot see Khepera mobile robot. Atum (alternatively spelled Tem, Temu, Tum, and Atem) is an important Deity in Egyptian mythology, whose cult centred This constant aging was suggested by the Egyptians as the reason Ra stayed separate from to world and let Osiris or Horus rule in his place. Osiris ( Greek language, also Usiris; the Egyptian language name is variously transliterated Asar, Aser, Ausar, Ausir This idea is often coupled with the myth in which Isis is able to trick an elderly Ra, having ruled on earth as a human pharaoh, into revealing his secret name, and thus the secret of his power. Isis is a goddess in Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs and is celebrated in their mythology as the ideal mother and wife patron of nature and magic friend of slaves sinners Ra shared many of his symbols with other solar deities, in particular Horus.
The Bennu bird is Ra's ba and a symbol of fire and rebirth. The Bennu bird serves as the Egyptian correspondence to the phoenix, and is said to be the soul of the Sun-God Ra. The sun disk, also shown as the hieroglyphic ⊙ ; Ankh, symbolizing the life given by the sun; Obelisk, representative of the rays of the sun and worshiped as a home of a solar god; Pyramids, aligned east/west Falcon; Bull; Uraeus, a cobra commonly seen wrapped around the sun disk. Ankylosis progressive homolog (mouse, also known as ANKH, is a human Gene. An obelisk (from Greek ὀβελίσκος - obeliskos, diminutive of ὀβελός - obelos, "spit nail pointed pillar" The Uraeus (plural Uraei or Uraeuses, from the Greek grc οὐραῖος from Egyptian egy jʿr The Uraeus is the associated form of the goddess Wadjet, who was often depicted as a cobra, an animal thought only to be female and reproducing through parthenogenesis. In Egyptian mythology, Wadjet, which means the Green One ( Egyptian egy w3ḏyt; also spelt Wadjit or Wedjet Cobras ( are venomous Snakes of the family Elapidae, of several genera, but particularly Naja. Parthenogenesis (from the Greek παρθένος parthenos, "virgin" + γένεσις genesis, "creation" is an asexual form Some traditions relate that the first uraeus was created by the goddess Isis who formed it from the dust of the earth and the spittle of the sun-god. Isis is a goddess in Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs and is celebrated in their mythology as the ideal mother and wife patron of nature and magic friend of slaves sinners The uraeus was the instrument with which Isis gained the throne of Egypt for her husband Osiris. As the sun, Ra was thought to see everything.
Together with Atum, Ra was believed to have fathered Shu and Tefnut, who in turn bore Geb, Nut. In Egyptian mythology, Tefnut (alternate spellings Tefenet Tefnet is a goddess of Water and fertility indeed her name means moist waters (i Geb (pronunciation as such from the Greek period onwards formerly erroneously read as Seb) or Keb (in Egyptian originally Gebeb/Kebeb meaning probably In the Ennead Mythology, Nut (alternatively spelled Nuit, Newet and Neuth was the goddess of the Sky. These in turn were the parents of Osiris, Isis, Set (also known as Seth) and Nephthys. Osiris ( Greek language, also Usiris; the Egyptian language name is variously transliterated Asar, Aser, Ausar, Ausir Isis is a goddess in Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs and is celebrated in their mythology as the ideal mother and wife patron of nature and magic friend of slaves sinners In Ancient Egyptian mythology, Set (also spelled Seth, Sutekh or Seteh) is an ancient god who was originally the god of the Desert In Egyptian mythology, Nephthys is the Greek form of an epithet (correctly spelled Nebet-het, and Nebt-het, in Transliteration from All nine made up the Heliopolitan Ennead. For the neo-Platonist work by Plotinus see Enneads. For the Latin epic see Aeneid.
Mythology
For the Egyptians, the sun most basically represented light, warmth, and growth. This made Ra very important to Egyptians, and it is probably therefore no coincidence that he came to be seen as the ruler of all. The sun was either seen as the body or eye of Ra.
The sun was thought to travel in a boat to protect its fires from the primordial waters of the underworld it passed through during the night. Ra traveled in the sunboat with various deities. Those deities included Ma'at, who guided the boat's course, and Set and Mehen who defended against monsters in the underworld. Maat or Mayet, thought to have been pronounced as *Muʔʕat (Muh-aht was the Ancient Egyptian concept of Truth, balance order— Law These monsters included Apep, the serpent who tried to stop the sunboat's journey every day by consuming it. So, the Egyptians saw the sunrise as the rebirth of the sun through Nut, the sky, and thus attributed the concept of rebirth and renewal to Ra, strengthening his role as a creator god. In the Ennead Mythology, Nut (alternatively spelled Nuit, Newet and Neuth was the goddess of the Sky.
Early in mythology, Ra was said to be married to Hathor, and they were the parents of Horus. In Egyptian mythology, Hathor (Pronounced Hah-Thor ( Egyptian for house of Horus) was originally a personification of the Milky Way Later mythology changed Hathor to being Ra's daughter. This featured prominantly in a myth, often called The Story of Sekhmet. In it, Ra sent Hathor down to punish humanity.
Composites
As with most widely worshiped Egyptian godforms, Ra's identity was often confused with other gods as different regional religions were merged in an attempt to unite the country.
Amun was a member of the Ogdoad, representing creation energies with Amaunet, and was a very early patron of Thebes. Amun, reconstructed Egyptian Yamānu (also spelled Amon, Amoun, Amen, and rarely Imen, Greek Ἄμμων Amun, reconstructed Egyptian Yamānu (also spelled Amon, Amoun, Amen, and rarely Imen, Greek Ἄμμων 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 combined to create Amun-Ra, a solar creator god. It is hard to distinguish exactly when this combination happened, with references being made in pyramid texts to Amun-Ra as early as the V Dynasty. The most common belief is that Amun-Ra was invented as the new state deity by the (Theban) rulers of the New Kingdom to unite worshipers of Amun with the older cult of Ra, beginning around the XVIII Dynasty. Ironically, the cult of Amun-Ra was effectively just as monotheistic as Akhenaten's worship of Aten, and the cult became so powerful that it rivaled the monarchy.
- Atum and Atum-Ra
- Atum-Ra (or Ra-Atum) was another composite deity formed from two completely separate deities. Atum (alternatively spelled Tem, Temu, Tum, and Atem) is an important Deity in Egyptian mythology, whose cult centred Atum (alternatively spelled Tem, Temu, Tum, and Atem) is an important Deity in Egyptian mythology, whose cult centred 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 gods and Pharaohs, and were widely worshiped. So, it was almost inevitable that the two cults were merged under the name of Atum-Ra.
- Ra-Horakhty
- In Egyptian mythology, Ra-Horakhty was more of a title, or manifestation, than a composite god. It translates as "Ra (who is) Horus of the Horizons". It was intended to link Horakhty (as a sunrise-orientated 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 god of hope and rebirth. (See earlier section: Ra and the sun) This link was probably encouraged by Ra and Horus' common link to the sun and the Pharaoh.
- Khepri and Khnum
- Khepri was the scarab beetle that rolled up the sun in the mornings, and was sometimes seen as the morning manifestation of Ra. This article is about the Egyptian god For the type of robot see Khepera mobile robot. In Egyptian mythology, Khnum (also spelled Chnum, Knum, or Khnemu) was one of the earliest Egyptian deities originally the god of the source Similarly, the ram-headed god Khnum was also seen as the evening manifestation of Ra. The idea of different gods (or different aspects of Ra) ruling over different times of the day was fairly common, but variable. With Khepri and Khnum taking precedence over sunrise and sunset, Ra was often the representation of midday, when the sun reached its peak at noon. Sometimes different aspects of Horus were used instead of Ra's aspects. In Thelema's Liber Resh vel Helios, Ra represents the rising sun, with Hathor as the midday sun and Tum as the setting sun.
- Ptah
- Ra was rarely combined with Ptah; the sun "crosses" over Ptah in the under world before Ptah is reborn, thus there would be no sun-Ray when this happens. In Egyptian mythology, Ptah (also spelt Peteh) was the deification of the primordial mound in the Ennead Cosmogony, which was more literally Other combinations can and do exist, the rising sun with sun ray, and the noon sun with sunray, and sitting sun with sunray. But as per the Memphite creation myth he was often said to be Ptah's first creation, through his divine will, especially when associated with Atum or Amun.
Worship
His cult began to grow from roughly the Second Dynasty, establishing Ra as the sun god. The Second Dynasty of Ancient Egypt is often combined with the First dynasty under the group title Early Dynastic Period of Egypt. By the IV Dynasty the Pharaohs were seen to be Ra's manifestations on earth, referred to as "Sons of Ra". His worship increased massively in the V Dynasty, when he became a state deity and Pharaohs had specially aligned pyramids, obelisks and solar temples built in his honour. The first Pyramid Texts began to arise, giving Ra more and more significance in the journey of the Pharaoh through the underworld. The Pyramid Texts are a collection of ancient Egyptian religious texts from the time of the Old Kingdom. Pharaoh is the title given in modern parlance to the ancient Egyptian kings of all periods
By XI Dynasty, Ra had become much like the theist Christian God. Mythology told that he had created the world for man, and that evil was a result of mankind's actions. In this respect Ra was closely affiliated with Ma'at, goddess of law and truth. It was even implied that he would punish the evil after death. The Middle Kingdom saw Ra being increasingly combined and affiliated with other deities, especially Amun and Osiris.
During the New Kingdom, the worship of Ra becomes yet more complicated and grand. The New Kingdom, sometimes referred to as the Egyptian Empire, is the period in Ancient Egyptian history between the 16th century BC and The walls of tombs were dedicated to extremely detailed texts that told of Ra's journey through the underworld. Ra was also now said to carry the prayers and blessings of the living with the souls of the dead on the sunboat. The New Kingdom appears to be when the idea that Ra aged with the sun was most popular.
Many acts of worship included hymns, prayers and spells to help Ra and the sunboat overcome Apep.
Though worship of Ra was very widespread, his cult center was in Heliopolis in Lower Egypt, the home of the Ennead that he was thought to be the head of as Atum. Lower Egypt is the northern-most section of Egypt. It refers to the fertile Nile Delta region which stretches from the area between El-Aiyat and Zawyet The Holiday of 'The Receiving of Ra' was celebrated on May 26 in the Gregorian calendar. Events 451 - The Battle of Avarayr between Armenian rebels and the Sassanid Empire takes place
Notes
Composites
- 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.
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