Ra
ancient Egyptian solar deity
Ra (; Ancient Egyptian: 𓂋𓂝𓇳, romanized: rꜥ; also transliterated rꜥw, pronounced [ˈɾiːʕuw] ; cuneiform: 𒊑𒀀 ri-a or 𒊑𒅀ri-ia; Phoenician: 𐤓𐤏, romanized: rʿ) or Re (Coptic: ⲣⲏ, romanized: Rē) was the ancient Egyptian deity of the Sun. By the Fifth Dynasty, in the 25th and 24th centuries BC, Ra had become one of the most important gods in ancient Egyptian religion, identified primarily with the noon-day Sun. Ra ruled in all parts of the created world: the sky, the Earth, and the Duat (underworld). He was believed to have ruled as the second pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, succeeding Ptah. He was the god of the Sun, order, kings and the sky.
Ra was portrayed as a falcon and shared characteristics with the sky-god Horus. At times, the two deities were merged as Ra-Horakhty, "Ra, who is Horus of the Two Horizons". When the god Amun rose to prominence during Egypt's New Kingdom, he was fused with Ra as Amun-Ra.
The cult of the Mnevis bull, an embodiment of Ra, had its center in Heliopolis and there was a formal burial ground for the sacrificed bulls north of the city.
All forms of life were believed to have been created by Ra.
“Ra” enters the record as ancient Egyptian solar deity. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what ancient, Egyptian and solar can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1252904. VIAF identifies the subject as 32792135. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “Ra” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.