HERE IS A VERY DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF RA
AND THE TIME WHEN HE RULED IN THE WORLD OF GODS

THE SUN GOD RA

According to ancient Egyptian religion and mythology, is a sun god. During the Fifth Dynasty, around 2400-2300 BC he had become an important god in ancient Egypt after first being identified with the midday sun. Already from the middle of the Fourth Dynasty, all the rulers of Egypt believed that they had a special relationship with the god, which is reflected in the royal title «Son of Ra».

In later dynastic times he was fused with Horus as Ra-Harakhte (" Ra (as you) Horus of the Two Horizons").

As the most important god in the Egyptian Pantheon, he was present on many levels in cult and myth.

The idea of the sun's cyclic course as the god's journey in the solar boat for twelve hours every day, and every night is equated with the eternal repetition of creation and all creative forces . It was assumed that he ruled in all parts of the created world: heaven, earth and the underworld. He became associated with the falcon or hawk.

All forms of life are believed to have been created by Ra , who called each of them into existence by uttering their secret names. Alternatively, man was created from Ra's tears and sweat, so the Egyptians referred to themselves as " Ra's cow". In the myth of the Heavenly Cow, it is told how humanity conspired against Ra , and how he sent his eye as the goddess Sekhmet to punish them. When she became bloodthirsty, she was pacified by drinking beer mixed with red dye. As the god Amun grew in importance during the New Kingdom, Ra was merged with him as Amun-Ra . During the Amarna period, pharaoh Akhnaton suppressed the cult of Ra in favor of another solar deity, Aten , the divine sun disc, but after the pharaoh's death sometime around 1336–1334 BC. the cult of Ra was restored. Ever since the Old Kingdom, the central sanctuary of Ra was located in the solar city of Heliopolis . The cult of the bull god Mnevis was understood as the embodiment of Ra and had its center in Heliopolis , and there was a formal burial place for the sacrificed bulls north of the city. The rulers of the Fifth Dynasty had separate buildings erected, sun temples at Abusir for the cult of Ra . The most powerful symbols were the obelisks with their gilded tips, which were understood as the seat of the god. Ra-Harakhte's most famous temple was built at Abu Simbel under Ramses II in the Nineteenth Dynasty.

RA AND THE SUN

To the ancient Egyptians, the sun represented light, warmth and growth. This made the sun god very important, as the sun was understood as the ruler of all that he had created. The solar disc was either seen as the body or the eye of Ras. Ra was the father of Shu and Tefnut , whom he had created. Shu was the god of wind and Tefnut was the goddess of rain. Sekhmet was Ra's eye and was created from the fire in Ra's eye.

She was understood as a fierce lion goddess.

RA IN THE UNDERWORLD.

Ra was believed to travel to Atet in two solar ships called Mandjet ("Boat of Millions of Years"), that is, the morning boat or the evening boat Mesektet . When Ra travels in his solar boat , he has a companion various deities, including Sia (sense) and Hu (order), as well as Heka (magical power). At times he received help from the gods of the Ennead on the journey, including Set, who defeated the serpent god Apep , and Mehen , who defeated the monsters of the underworld. When Ra was in the world of the dead, he appeared in all his forms. Apep , the god of chaos, was a huge serpent who tried to hinder the sun boat's journey each night by swallowing it or stopping it in its tracks with his hypnotic gaze. During the evening, the Egyptians believed that Ra was Atum , or in the form of a ram ( saubukk ). The Nightship wanted to take him through the Underworld and back to the East in preparation for his rebirth. These myths of Ra represented the rising of the sun and were understood as the rebirth of the sun by the sky goddess Nut ; thus contributing to the concept of Ra's rebirth and renewal and the strengthening of his role as the creator god.

RA AS THE CREATOR GOD

Ra was worshiped as the creator god, especially in his cult center at Heliopolis . A creation story says that Ra wept and from his tears humans were created. The followers of Ra believed that he himself was created by himself, but the followers of Ptah believed that Ra was created by Ptah , the creator of the world. In one section of The Book of the Dead, Ra cut himself open, and from his blood there were actually two personifications, Hu ("the authority") and Sia ("the mind"). Ra is also credited with observing the seasons, months, plants and animals.

ICONOGRAPHY

Ra was artistically portrayed in a multitude of forms. The most common one was like a man with the head of a hawk or falcon and with a sun disc on top of his head, and the uraeus snake coiled around the sun disc.[9] Other common forms were as a man with the head of a bull (in his guise as Khepri ) or as a man with the head of a ram. Ra was also depicted fully as a ram, bull, phoenix , heron, serpent, ox, cat or lion and in other symbols. He was most often portrayed with the head of a were while in the underworld. In this form, Ra is described as "the one from the west" or "the one in charge of his harem". In some texts, Ra is described as an aging king with skin of gold, legs of silver and hair of Lasurstein . In his guise as the divine child (in the first two days of the day), Ra is portrayed in his full human-like form, which usually represents the interior of the sun. In some scenes he is represented seated on the heavenly lotus flower.

THE CULT OF RA
Ra's main cult was the place which in Old Egyptian was called I͗wnw or Iulu , " Place of the Pillars ", but later known by its Greek name, Heliopolis , Ἡλιού πολις, literally "city of the sun". In the Old Testament as On. The city was also referred to in Old Kingdom pyramid texts as the "House/Temple of Ra". Today, Heliopolis is a suburb of Cairo. Ra was identified with the local sun god Atum , and as Atum-Ra he was understood as the first being and as the creator of the Ennead ("the nine"), consisting of the gods Shu and Tefnut , Geb and Nut , Osiris, Set, Isis and Nephthys . The "Reception of Ra " holiday was celebrated on May 26 in the Gregorian calendar. His local cult began to grow from around the Second Dynasty, which established Ra as a sun god. By the Fourth Dynasty, the pharaohs were seen as manifestations of Ra on earth, referred to as

"Sons of Ra". His cult grew greatly in the Fifth Dynasty when Ra became a state god and pharaohs built pyramids, obelisks and sun temples in his honor. The rulers of the Fifth Dynasty told their followers that they were the sons of Ra himself and the wives of the high priest of Heliopolis . The first pyramid texts (tomb inscriptions) began to appear and where Ra became more and more important in the journey of the pharaoh with Ra through the underworld. During the Middle Kingdom, Ra was increasingly associated and combined with leading deities, particularly Amun and Osiris. By the New Kingdom, the worship of Ra had become more elaborate and large-scale. The walls of the tombs were dedicated to extremely detailed texts depicting Ra's journey through the underworld. Ra was said to carry prayers and blessings to the living with the souls of the dead on the sun boat. The idea that Ra was burned with the sun became a more popular idea during this time. The many forms of religious worship included hymns, prayers and incantations to help Ra and the solar boat overcome the evil serpent god Apep . With the rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire, the cult of Ra was attacked and came to an end. As the popularity of Ra died out in competition with the new state-bearing religion, which did its part to suppress and destroy other religious beliefs, the study of Ra became a purely academic interest even among Egyptian priests. Amun was a member of the Ogdoad ("the eight") and represented the energies of creation along with Amaunet . He was from very ancient times the patron of the city of Thebes .

It was believed to create with its breath and was thus identified with the wind before the sun. As the cults of Amun and Ra became increasingly popular in Upper and Lower Egypt, it led to the two deities being mixed or merged as Amun-Ra , a sun and creator god. It is difficult to discern exactly when this combination took place, but references to Amun-Ra appeared in the Pyramid Texts as early as the Fifth Dynasty. The most common view is that Amun-Ra was invented as a new state deity by the rulers of Thebes in the New Kingdom to unite those who worshiped Amun with the older Ra cult around the Eighteenth Dynasty. Amun-Ra was given the official title "King of the Gods" by his followers, and images showed the combined deity as a man with red eyes and a lion's head with the sun disk on his head.

ATUM AND ATUM-RA

Atum-Ra (or Ra-Atum ) was another composite deity formed from two completely separate deities, but Ra shares more similarities with Atum than with Amun . Atum was more associated with the sun and was also a creator god of the Ennead . Both Ra and Atum were considered fathers of the gods and by the pharaohs. In older myths, Atum was the creator of Tefnut and Shu , and he was born of the primordial sea Nun .

RA-HARAKHTE

In later Egyptian mythology, Ra-Harakhte was more of a title or manifestation than a composite deity. It is translated as " Ra (as you) Horus of the two horizons". It was intended to connect Harakhte (as the dawn aspect of Horus ) to Ra . It is possible that Ra-Harakhte simply referred to the sun's journey from horizon to horizon as Ra , or that it had the meaning of Ra as a symbolic deity of hope and rebirth.

KHEPRI AND KHNUM

Khepri was a scarab beetle that rolled up the sun in the morning and was sometimes seen as a manifestation of Ra . Similarly, Khnum , the god with the head, was also seen as the manifestation of Ra in the evening. The idea that different gods (or different aspects of Ra ) ruled over different times of the day was quite common, but varied in time and place. As Khepri and Khnum took precedence over sunrise and sunset, Ra himself was often the representation of the morning, when the sun reached its peak.

At times, various aspects of Horus were used instead of Ra .

RAET-TAUI

Raet-taui was a female aspect of Ra , but had no major significance independent of him. She was associated with the lotus flower from which the sun was born. In some myths she was explained as either Ra's wife or his daughter. In later dynastic times he was fused with Horus as Ra-Harakhte (" Ra (as you) Horus of the Two Horizons"). As the most important god in the Egyptian pantheon , he was present on many levels in cult and myth. The idea of the sun's cyclic course as the god's journey in the solar boat for twelve hours every day and every night is equated with the eternal repetition of creation and all creative forces. He was believed to rule in all parts of the created world: heaven, earth and the underworld. He became associated with the falcon or hawk. All forms of life are believed to have been created by Ra , who called each of them into existence by uttering their secret names. Alternatively, man was created from Ra's tears and sweat, so the Egyptians referred to themselves as " Ra's cow". In the myth of the Heavenly Cow, it is told how humanity conspired against Ra , and how he sent his eye as the goddess Sekhmet to punish them. When she became bloodthirsty, she was pacified by drinking beer mixed with red dye.[3] As the god Amun grew in importance during the New Kingdom, Ra was merged with him as Amun-Ra . During the Amarna period, pharaoh Akhnaton suppressed the cult of Ra in favor of another solar deity, Aten , the divine sun disc, but after the pharaoh's death sometime around 1336–1334 BC. the cult of Ra was restored. Ever since the Old Kingdom, the central sanctuary of Ra was located in the solar city of Heliopolis . The cult of the bull god Mnevis was understood as the embodiment of Ra and had its center in Heliopolis , and there was a formal burial place for the sacrificed bulls north of the city. The rulers of the Fifth Dynasty had separate buildings erected, sun temples at Abusir for the cult of Ra . The most powerful symbols were the obelisks with the gilded tips, which were understood as the seat of the god. Ra-Harakhte's most famous temple was built at Abu Simbel under Ramses II in the Nineteenth Dynasty.

RA AND THE SUN

To the ancient Egyptians, the sun represented light, warmth and growth. This made the sun god very important, as the sun was understood as the ruler of all that he had created. The solar disc was either seen as the body or the eye of Ras. Ra was the father of Shu and Tefnut , whom he had created. Shu was the god of wind and Tefnut was the goddess of rain. Sekhmet was Ra's eye and was created from the fire in Ra's eye. She was understood as a fierce lion goddess.

RA IN THE UNDERWORLD

Ra was believed to travel to Atet in two solar ships called the Mandjet ("Boat of Millions of Years"), that is, the morning boat or the evening boat Mesektet .[ When Ra travels in his solar boat , he is accompanied by various deities, including Sia (sense) and Hu (order), as well as Heka (magical power). At times he received help from the gods of the Ennead on the journey, including Set, who defeated the serpent god Apep , and Mehen , who defeated the monsters of the underworld. When Ra was in the world of the dead, he appeared in all his forms. Apep , the god of chaos, was a huge serpent who tried to hinder the sun boat's journey each night by swallowing it or stopping it in its tracks with his hypnotic gaze. During the evening, the Egyptians believed that Ra was Atum , or in the form of a ram ( saubukk ). The Nightship wanted to take him through the Underworld and back to the East in preparation for his rebirth. These myths of Ra represented the rising of the sun and were understood as the rebirth of the sun by the sky goddess Nut ; thus contributing to the concept of Ra's rebirth and renewal and the strengthening of his role as the creator god

RA AS THE CREATOR GOD

Ra was worshiped as the creator god, especially in his cult center at Heliopolis . A creation story says that Ra wept and from his tears humans were created. The followers of Ra believed that he himself was created by himself, but the followers of Ptah believed that Ra was created by Ptah , the creator of the world. In one section of The Book of the Dead, Ra cut himself open, and from his blood there were actually two personifications, Hu ("the authority") and Sia ("the mind").

Ra is also credited with observing the seasons, months, plants and animals.

ICONOGRAPHY

Ra was artistically portrayed in a multitude of forms. The most common was like a man with the head of a hawk or falcon and with a sun disc on top of his head, and the uraeus snake coiled around the sun disc. Other common forms were like a man with the head of a bull (in his form as Khepri ) or as a man with the head of a ram. Ra was also depicted fully as a ram, bull, phoenix , heron, serpent, ox, cat or lion and in other symbols. He was most often portrayed with the head of a were while in the underworld. In this form, Ra is described as "the one from the west" or "the one in charge of his harem". In some texts, Ra is described as an aging king with skin of gold, legs of silver, and hair of lapis lazuli . In his guise as the divine child (in the first two days of the day), Ra is portrayed in his full human-like form, which usually represents the interior of the sun. In some scenes he is represented seated on the heavenly lotus flower.

TAKE A CYCLE TOUR IN YOUR SOLAR BOAT.

Ra's main cult was the place which in Old Egyptian was called I͗wnw or Iulu , " Place of the Pillars ", but later known by its Greek name, Heliopolis , Ἡλιού πολις, literally "city of the sun". In the Old Testament as On.

The city was also referred to in Old Kingdom pyramid texts as the "House/Temple of Ra". Today, Heliopolis is a suburb of Cairo. Ra was identified with the local sun god Atum , and as Atum-Ra he was understood as the first being and as the creator of the Ennead ("the nine"), consisting of the gods Shu and Tefnut , Geb and Nut , Osiris, Set, Isis and Nephthys . The "Reception of Ra " holiday was celebrated on May 26 in the Gregorian calendar.

His local cult began to grow from around the Second Dynasty, which established Ra as a sun god. By the Fourth Dynasty, the pharaohs were seen as manifestations of Ra on earth, referred to as "Sons of Ra".

His cult grew greatly in the Fifth Dynasty, when Ra became a state deity, and pharaohs built pyramids, obelisks, and sun temples in his honor. The rulers of the Fifth Dynasty told their followers that they were the sons of Ra himself and the wives of the high priest of Heliopolis . The first pyramid texts (tomb inscriptions) began to appear and where Ra became more and more important in the journey of the pharaoh with Ra through the underworld. During the Middle Kingdom, Ra was increasingly associated and combined with leading deities, particularly Amun and Osiris. By the New Kingdom, the worship of Ra had become more elaborate and large-scale.

The walls of the tombs were dedicated to extremely detailed texts depicting Ra's journey through the underworld. Ra was said to carry prayers and blessings to the living with the souls of the dead on the sun boat. The idea that Ra was burned with the sun became a more popular idea during this time. The many forms of religious worship included hymns, prayers and incantations to help Ra and the solar boat overcome the evil serpent god Apep . With the rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire, the cult of Ra was attacked and came to an end.

As the popularity of Ra died out in competition with the new state-bearing religion, which did its part to suppress and destroy other religious beliefs, the study of Ra became a purely academic interest even among Egyptian priests.

THE RELATION TO OTHER GODS

Ra and Amun , from the tomb of Ramses IV. As with the several great Egyptian gods, Ra's identity was often combined with other gods, forming a coexistence between them. Some of these are as follows: AMUN AND AMUN-RA Amun was a member of the Ogdoad ("the eight") and represented the energies of creation along with Amaunet . He was from very ancient times the patron of the city of Thebes . It was believed to create with its breath and was thus identified with the wind before the sun. As the cults of Amun and Ra became increasingly popular in Upper and Lower Egypt, it led to the two deities being mixed or merged as Amun-Ra , a sun and creator god. It is difficult to discern exactly when this combination took place, but references to Amun-Ra appeared in the Pyramid Texts, so already in the fifth dynasty. The most common view is that Amun-Ra was invented as a new state deity by the rulers of Thebes in the New Kingdom to unite those who worshiped Amun with the older Ra cult around the Eighteenth Dynasty. Amun-Ra was given the official title "King of the Gods" by his followers, and images showed the combined deity as a man with red eyes and a lion's head with the sun disk on his head.

ATUM AND ATUM-RA

Atum-Ra (or Ra-Atum ) was another composite deity formed from two completely separate deities, but Ra shares more similarities with Atum than with Amun . Atum was more associated with the sun and was also a creator god of the Ennead . Both Ra and Atum were considered fathers of the gods and by the pharaohs. In older myths, Atum was the creator of Tefnut and Shu , and he was born of the primordial sea Nun .

RA-HARAKHTE

In later Egyptian mythology, Ra-Harakhte was more of a title or manifestation than a composite deity. It is translated as " Ra (as you) Horus of the two horizons". It was meant to connect Harakhte (as the dawn aspect of Horus ) to Ra . It is possible that Ra-Harakhte simply referred to the sun's journey from horizon to horizon as Ra , or that it had the meaning of Ra as a symbolic deity of hope and rebirth.

KHEPRI AND KHNUM

Khepri was a scarab beetle that rolled up the sun in the morning and was sometimes seen as a manifestation of Ra . Similarly, Khnum , the god with the head, was also seen as the manifestation of Ra in the evening. The idea that different gods (or different aspects of Ra ) ruled over different times of the day was quite common, but varied in time and place. As Khepri and Khnum took precedence over sunrise and sunset, Ra himself was often the representation of the morning, when the sun reached its peak. At times, various aspects of Horus were used instead of Ra . Raet-taui Raet-taui was a female aspect of Ra , but had no major significance independent of him. She was associated with the lotus flower from which the sun was born. In some myths she was explained as either Ra's wife or his daughter.

Source: https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ra_(god)