Re/Ra
The
most important of the Egyptian gods, the personification
of the (midday) sun.
According
to the Heliopolitan cosmology he created himself from a
mound that arose from the primeval waters of Nun
or out of a primordial lotus flower. He then created Shu
(air) and Tefnut (moisture), who
in turn engendered the earth-god Geb
and the sky-goddess Nut.
Re
was said to have created humankind from his own tears and
the gods Hu and Sia
from blood drawn from his own penis.
The
sun itself was taken to be either his body or his eye (the
'Eye of Re').
The
center of his cult was from the very beginning in Heliopolis,
where he was also venerated in the forms of Atum
(the setting sun) and Khepri (the
rising sun) and, in connection to the morning sun, as Re-Harachte.
As Re-Atum he is the creator who gives light and warmth
and thus growth.
Re
was often combined with other deities to enhance the prestige
of the latter, as in Re-Atum or Amun-Re.
It
was said that Re traveled each day in his solar barque through
the sky, starting in the morning. At night, Re journeyed
through the underworld in another barque. And each night,
the monster Apep would try to prevent
the sun-god from emerging again; the eternal battle between
light and darkness.
The
gods Seth and Mehen
accompanied him and were often depicted defending Re's barque.
Others
believed that Re could be found at night in the underworld,
consoling and giving support to the dead.
Re
is also the god of the pharaohs and since the fourth dynasty
the Egyptian kings styled themselves 'sons of Re'. After
death, the monarch was said to ascend into the sky to join
the entourage of Re.
In
Heliopolis the Benu or Phoenix (sacred heron) and the oracular
Mnevis (bull) were venerated as manifestations of the sun-god.
Here the kings also built temples for Re, which were important
institutions in the field of ideology.
Re
was usually portrayed as a man with the head of a falcon,
crowned with the sun disc encircled by the uraeus.
The
name of Ra in hieroglyphs: 
The
Encyclopedia Mythic
