Ra the Sun God

        Ra is the sun god. He was the most important god to the ancient Egyptians. He usually is represented as a man with a head as a hawk, holding an ankh and sceptre. Ra was believed to be reborn every dawn. The ancient Egyptians believed that Ra traveled through the underworld at night.

        Ra was believed to sail in a boat called “Barque of Millions of Years”. When passing through the underworld, Ra traveled in a sun boat so its fires would be protected. This boat traveled through 12 doors which represented the 12 hours of night-time. Ma’at was the god that guided the boat and Set and Mehen defended against the monsters of the underworld. Apep was a monster serpent that tried to consume the boat everyday. When passing through the underworld Ra was a man with the head of a ram.

        Atum is Ra’s father, grandfather and great-grandfather and is the creator of the world. Ra was believed to have created Sekhmet, who became Hathor, the cow goddess. Ra is the father and the brother of the god Osiris.

        Most forms of life were believed to be created by Ra. Eventually humans were created from Ra’s tears of sweat. So the Egyptians called themselves “Cattle of Ra”.

        The sun mostly represented light, warmth and growth. This is what made Ra the most important god to the Egyptians and is the ruler of all gods and goddesses. Ra was closely connected to the Pharaoh, Egypt’s King. The king ruled the earth; Ra was the master of the universe so they were a mirror to each other.

        When Ra started to grow old, he dribbled so Isis collected some of it and made it into a snake. She hid the snake where Ra would walk and when Ra went on it, it bit him and Ra screamed in pain. All the gods would come to try to help but no one could heal him. Isis said “if you tell me your secret name this will give me enough magic power to heal you”. Ra didn’t want to do that but eventually he did because the pain was so bad. Isis healed him and ever since then Isis had all the magical powers of Ra.