In ancient Egypt, the title of ‘King of the Gods’ was attributed to Ra, the Sun God, who was believed to be the creator god of the universe.The legends and stories surrounding Ra have fascinated historians for many years. Many myths are associated with the god, such as the belief that Ra made human beings out of his tears.Ancient Egyptian civilization is a subject of research that has garnered the interest of historians for a long time. Among all the variety of gods and goddesses who the people worshiped, Ra held a special place. He was often depicted as a man with the head of a falcon wearing headgear in the shape of the sun. He controlled all the realms of the sky, the earth, and even the underworld. People were fearful of angering the Sun God, and they had the utmost respect for him. The pharaoh was considered the representation of Ra on the mortal plane. The appearance and powers of the main among the creator gods are believed to be true by the people in the 21st century.If you enjoy reading this article and want to read more, check out further with similar articles on facts about the Sun and facts about Palm Sunday.Qualities Of Ra The Sun GodRa was generally portrayed as a man with a falcon’s head. He wore a sun disk-shaped headdress.A sacred cobra circled the sun disk, which was named Uraeus. The sacred cobra symbolized divine authority, royalty, and supreme power (sovereignty).The falcon head deity with sun disc was also portrayed as a man with the head of a scarab beetle and a ram’s head. Additionally, some other animals represented as Ra are lion, serpent, phoenix, cat, heron, bull, and others.The sun deity was always a source of worship in ancient Egyptian history, although he is not the oldest of the ancient Egyptian gods. The first mention of Ra is found in ancient Egyptian texts belonging to the Second Dynasty. The god of the sun became very important during the Fifth Dynasty. The New Kingdom after the Fifth Dynasty was the time the ancient Egyptians began to see Ra as more important than other gods.The pharaoh was known as the sun of Ra, and the Egyptian kings were believed to be the incarnation of the god on earth.In ancient Egypt, the people believed that a part of Ra was present in all the other gods, and the other gods of ancient Egypt had to follow Ra. He was linked to the god Amun, known as Amun-Ra, and another solar god, Atum, as the deity Atum-Ra. He was called Ra-Horakhty when linked to the sky god Horus.Ra The Sun God In Popular CultureRa, the Egyptian God of Sun, has been referred to in popular culture several times. Below are some of the movies and tv shows in which we have heard mentions of the Egyptian god Ra.The most well-known reference of Ra all film lovers know is in the Indiana Jones movie ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark.’ The titular character of Indiana Jones has to use a part of the Staff of Ra to locate the location of the mythological Ark of the Covenant that is hidden somewhere in Tanis.The 1994 movie Stargate has Ra as the main villain. He is projected as an alien in the film who enslaves ancient Egyptians by using a device called Stargate. In a spinoff TV series, Ra was established as the most powerful among a race of aliens. This is the setup as the aliens are considered important gods in Egyptian mythology.In the ‘Gods of Egypt’ film released in 2016, Geoffrey Rush portrayed the character of Ra as a creator god. He does the job of dragging the sun daily across the sky, and he is seen killing the demon Apophis. Ra is also seen as the father of Set and Osiris.Mythological Facts About Ra The Sun GodRa sailed on a boat known as ‘Boat of Millions of Years’ to cross the heavens each day. The boat went from the east towards the west. As the sun set and night came, people believed that Nut, the sky goddess, swallowed the king of the gods who died each day and went to the underworld. The chief god Ra was reborn during sunrise, and the cycle continued.Apep was an evil serpent who was the main enemy of Ra, fighting the sun god each day. Several tombs in the Valley of the Kings show the daily journey of Ra.Ra created himself, and humans were created from his tears. His other name was Re. Historians argue that the ancient Egyptian religion was monotheistic as Ra was more important than all the other gods.The powers of Ra came from a hidden name that was known only by Ra. His enemies tried several methods to find out this name. He was banished by Isis so that her husband Osiris could be the king. Ra’s power was transferred to Isis after she created a serpent that bit Ra, and he had to let out his secret name.Important Learnings From Ra The Sun GodSun temples were built in honor of Ra by many pharaohs. The god of the sun did not have any statues in the sun temples. The temples had open space to allow sunlight which was a symbol of Ra. Benu-Phoenix in Heliopolis is the oldest known temple of Ra, built in the location where Ra emerged into creation. The ‘Tree of Life’ is located inside this temple which was considered sacred. The ordinary people did not eat its fruit which was left for special rituals done for the pharaohs. If you ate fruit from the tree, you would be granted eternal life.Some historians say that the pyramids have a connection with the pharaohs of Ra as the sunrays touched them directly. When Rome conquered Egypt in 30 BC, the glory of the supreme god came to an end.Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created many interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Ra the sun god facts, then why not take a look at why do plants need sunlight or how far is Neptune from the sun?
In ancient Egypt, the title of ‘King of the Gods’ was attributed to Ra, the Sun God, who was believed to be the creator god of the universe.
