Ra

Ra, also rendered Re in some transliterations, is one of the most important deities in ancient Egyptian religion. He personified the sun and was associated with creation, life, warmth, and growth. In many myths Ra travels across the sky in a solar barque, is believed to pass through the underworld each night, and is reborn at dawn, making him a symbol of renewal and the cycles of existence.

Worship of Ra centers on the city of Heliopolis (Iunu), where he was revered as a creator god who brought forth other deities and ordered the cosmos. Over time Ra was incorporated into a number of composite forms, including Atum-Ra and Amun-Ra. In the New Kingdom, the sun god was often identified with Horus to form Ra-Horakhty. The syncretisms reflect evolving notions of kingship and solar theology in Egypt.

Iconography commonly depicts Ra as a man with the head of a falcon, wearing a solar disk encircled by a uraeus, or simply as a sun disk. The pharaohs frequently claimed royal legitimacy as the “Son of Ra,” aligning their divine authority with the sun god and with his daily journey across the sky.

Cultural influence of Ra extended beyond temple ritual to royal ideology, funerary texts, and literature. His cult persisted for centuries, adapting to changing religious landscapes, including interactions with Greek and Roman beliefs during the Ptolemaic and imperial periods. The name Ra (Rꜥ) is typically translated as “the Sun” or “the Sun God.”