Ra (mythology)
| Ra in hieroglyphic |
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Ra is the god of the Sun and the origin of life in Egyptian mythology. Ra is the symbol of sunlight, creator of life, and responsible for the cycle of death and resurrection.
God who represents the midday sun, in its maximum splendor. In early times he was the most important figure in the Underworld; it was said that he traveled through it each night in the form of Auf-Ra, the setting sun.
To travel through the sky, it was believed that he did it by boat from East to West in a 24-hour journey; by day it was a boat known as a "Mandjet"; at night he travels in a small barge called "Mensenktet"; according to the moments of the trip, he manifested himself in three different entities: at dawn he was Jepri; at noon, Horajti and at dusk, Atum.
Iconography
He has the body of a man with the head of a falcon and is represented with the sun disk.
History
In the early Old Kingdom, Ra was only one of several extant solar deities, but by 2400 B.C. C. he had become the official god of the pharaohs, who considered themselves his offspring, and even his incarnations. During the V Dynasty he was elevated to a national deity and later linked to the Theban god Amun to become Amun-Ra, the chief deity of the Egyptian pantheon.
During the Amarna period, Pharaoh Akhenaten suppressed the cult of Ra in favor of a single solar deity Aten, the deified sun disk, but after Akhenaten's death the cult of Ra as sun god was restored.
Mythology
Legend has it that in the beginning there was no light. There was only darkness and a large expanse of water with the name of Nun. Nun's power was so great that from within the gloom he made an island sprout, which served as support for Ra.
Ra had the power to do whatever he wanted, even change shape, the most he took shape in was a bird. What he named took shape and became real. The power of the name was so important that he kept his name and his own secret so that no one could use it.
Ra set out to create the sun saying: “At sunrise I am called Khepri, at noon Ra and at sunset Atum”. And then, the sun appeared for the first time illuminating the darkness, it rose above the horizon and at sunset it descended to hide again. Then he named Shu, the winds gathered for the first time and began to blow.
When Ra named Tefnut, the rain was present with its drops.
Later he named Geb and just by naming him, the earth was formed and to keep him company he named the goddess Nut, and the firmament arched over the earth.
When he wanted to crown Egypt with the Nile River, he named Hapi. And the Nile began to flow through Egypt fertilizing its wide valley. Ra, he began to name one by one all the things that exist on earth and they became visible and grew. He finally gave names to men and women, and since then humanity populated the earth.
Ra could assume any form he wanted. So, he took the form of a man and became the first pharaoh of Egypt.
Ra ruled Egypt for thousands of years bringing well-being and prosperity to its inhabitants thanks to the fabulous harvests and his magnificent laws. The Egyptians only had words of gratitude and they did not stop extolling his name.
But Ra, had taken human form and was therefore aging day by day. One fine day, the Egyptians stopped respecting him, began to make fun of his senile appearance and disobeyed his orders.
Ra couldn't help but hear the jokes and comments and when he saw that men didn't obey the laws, he got so angry that he decided to summon the gods he had created in a secret place to ask for advice.
There were Shu Tefnut, Geb, Nut and Nun listening to the problem that the god Ra was afflicting.
Nun spoke saying: What you must do is destroy them in the form of your daughter, the goddess Sekhmet.
The other gods, seeing the bad behavior of men, also advised him to destroy men through the goddess Sekhmet.
Ra, with his terrifying eye, created the goddess Sekhmet. Fierce and bloodthirsty like a lioness who pursues her prey and delights in slaughter and blood. Following Ra's orders, she unleashed her fury on all who ridiculed his father, spreading terror and despair throughout Egypt.
The men fled to hide, but the goddess Sekhmet chased them and killed them licking their blood.
When Ra saw what Sekhmet had done, he called her into his presence to ask if she had obeyed him. Sekhmet replied that he was happy because he had avenged his father Ra from him, eliminating all the men he had given him. All of Egypt was dyed with the color of blood and it was impossible to stop the fury of the cruel and bloodthirsty Sekhmet.
But Ra took pity on the men and decided to do something to stop the slaughter. He then sent swift and silent messengers in search of large quantities of amber. He then ordered many liters of beer to be prepared until they filled seven thousand jugs. Later, he had the amber mixed with the beer. In the moonlight the beer turned the color of blood. He had the jars refilled and sent his messengers to overturn them in the place where Sekhmet was. As the sun rose, Sekhmet was preparing for her next hunt, when she saw the land awash in red and she believed it to be royal blood because no man was nearby. She approached and drank overjoyed while she laughed and enjoyed thinking it was blood. She drank so much that day, that in her drunkenness, she couldn't kill any man.
When Sekhmet returned to Ra's presence, the god greeted her with joy as she had not killed anyone and decided to change her name to Bastet. From that moment she became the goddess Bastet, she was the goddess of sweetness, love and passion.
Humanity was redeemed and Ra continued to reign in his old age, even though he knew the time had come to delegate the rule of Egypt to the young gods. Let's not forget that the power of Ra was in his secret name. If anyone found out, Ra would cease to reign. Ra knew this and kept it hidden in his heart. Only by using great magical powers could he be known.
The god Geb united with Nut and they had several children: Isis, Osiris, Nephthys and Seth. Isis was the wisest of all of them. Isis knew all the secrets of heaven and earth, but what she did not know was the secret name of Ra and she set out to find out.
Ra was very old. He was walking with difficulty. His entire body trembled. His words were choppy and like most old people, he was drooling.
Isis began to follow him secretly and when a drop of Ra's slime fell on the earth forming mud, she picked it up and modeled a snake. She placed the snake near the path and when Ra was walking around, the snake bit him and then ran away to hide.
The venom raced rapidly through Ra's body, causing hitherto unknown pain. Ra screamed with all his might and the gods rushed to meet him.
Ra was puzzled. He felt that a fire was burning inside him and he could not find an explanation for what had happened.
The summoned gods cried and lamented for what had happened. Among these gods, was the cunning Isis who approached asking: - What happens almighty father? Have you been bitten by one of the snakes you have created?
Ra replied: -I was bitten by a snake that I did not create. I can't stop shaking. I feel that a burning fire burns me inside and devours me.
Isis approached gently and whispered in his ear:- If you tell me your secret name, I will be able to use my magical powers and I will be able to heal you.
Ra replied: -I am the one who made heaven and earth. The one who created the waters, the winds, the light, the darkness. I am the creator of the great river Nile. I am Khepri in the morning, Ra at noon and Atum at sunset.
Isis replied: - You know well, almighty father, that those names are known by all. What I need to cure you is your secret name.
Ra took her hand and whispered in her ear: Before my name passes from my heart to yours, swear to me that you will tell no one except the son you will have whom you will call Horus. And Horus must swear that the name will remain on him forever. He must not communicate it to other gods or other men.
Isis swore her oath and the knowledge of the secret name passed from the heart of Ra to the heart of Isis.
Then, Isis using all her magical powers said: By the name I know, she ordered the poison to leave Ra's body forever.
The poison wore off and Ra felt fine, but he stopped reigning over Egypt. He found a place in the sky where he could walk following the trajectory of the sun.
Syncretism
Ra's identity was often confused with that of other gods and he underwent different fusions in an attempt to culturally unify the country.
- Amon-Ra: as the cults of Amon and Ra were increasingly popular in Upper and Lower Egypt, respectively, they combined to create Amon-Ra, the creator solar god. Amon was an ancient pattern of Thebes and a member of the Ogdoada; with Amonet represented the creative energy.
- Atum-Ra, was another deity formed from two different deities. Ra shares more similarities with Atum than with Amon. Atum is more closely linked to the Sun, and he was also a creator god of the Enéada. Thus, it was inevitable that the two deities would merge under the name of Atum-Ra.
- Ra-Horajty, was actually more a title or manifestation than a composite god. It was intended to link Horajty to Ra – as an aspect of Horus at dawn.
- Jepri, the beetle-shaped god who drives the morning Sun, is sometimes seen as the manifestation of Ra at dawn.
- Jnum was also considered an evening manifestation of Ra; Jnum would be an aspect of Ra in the sunset.
Worship
He was venerated in Heliopolis, center of his cult, and Abu Gurab, where Solar Temples were erected for him by the pharaohs of the V dynasty: Userkaf "Nejen-Ra", Sahura, Neferirkara, Neferefra, Nyuserra and Menkauhor.
Theophore names
Many pharaohs bore his name, such as Nebra "Ra is lord", Jafrat (Kefren), Menkaura (Micerino); It was widely used, since the V dynasty, forming part of the title of most of the pharaohs, as the Name of Sa-Ra "Son of Ra"(son of the sun).