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Ra was born from the egg made by primeval matter and sprang into
existence as the Sun. In another myth, the Sun was believed to have
risen from a lotus flower floating on the waters that predated life,
and Ra was sometimes shown as a child in its petals. In later mythology
he became Ra-Harakhte, a fusion with Horus, son of lsis and
Osiris, who is also represented with the head of a falcon.
Being the Sun, Ra assumed several names as he made his way across the
sky. When rising he was called Khepri, at his full height, Ra, and when
he set, Atum.
As the Sun god, Ra's barque carried the Sun across
the sky where he encountered and overcame a serpent called Apep which
laid in wait for him in the Nile. As the sun set, Ra took his barque
through the underworld to battle many more monsters and demons.
Ra and Atum were also represented as an eye, depicted
as the uraeus serpent worn on the crowns of Egyptian royalty denoting
the power of rule. Ra once hurled this eye at the human race, all but
exterminating it after it had been plotting against him.
Like his name, which varied, Ra could assume many
shapes, including the Bennu Bird or the Phoenix. His is most commonly
recognised as a man with a falcon’s head wearing the disc of the
Sun.
The cult of the Sun was turned into one of the first
major monotheistic religions by Akhenaton, who based his court in Amarna.
Worship of the Aton, or Aten, was suppressed after his death, Amarna
left to the desert, and the god Amon restored.
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