The ancient Egyptian civilization has survived for thousands of years. It has gone through many Dynasties and absorbed many other cultures into its empire. As such, many of the ancient Egyptian myths have multiple versions, evolving from generation to generation. Sometimes, the same Egyptian myths can be based on different locations, and sometimes even feature different heroes.
For example, the story of the Creation is arguably the most varied of the ancient Egyptian myths. Different versions, originating from different locations and time periods, feature different gods. However, as with all myths, it is the essence and meaning of the story which is important.
In the beginning, nothing existed in this world, except for a watery chaos. This liquid essence, from which all things would emerge, was known as Nun. Out of this primordial soup emerged the god of creation, the sun god Ra. In the morning, he was known as Khepera the Creator. At noon, he was Ra of the Sun. In the evening, he was Atum the Complete.
Ra had the power of creation within him. Whatever he named, it came into existence. As he emerged from eternal Nun, he named many things, from the ground on which he stood to the air and the sands. Thus he named and created his children. He named Shu, and the god of the wind was born. He then named Tefnut, and his daughter the goddess of the rain emerged. Ra continued to name the plants and the animals, creating life around him that was pleasing to the eye. And from his tears, the first of mankind emerged.
In time, Shu and Tefnut also created their own children. And so emerged Geb, the god of the earth, and Nut, goddess of the sky. Satisfied with all he had created, Ra set down and ruled the land of Egypt as the first Pharaoh.
Centuries passed, and Ra continued to rule Egypt. He then learnt a prophecy that a child of the goddess Nut would rise to take his place as Pharaoh. Fearful, he forbade Nut to have any children. However, she sought the aid of the wise god Thoth, and she gave birth to four children: Osiris, Isis, Nephthys and Set.
As long as his Secret Name was not known to anyone, Ra would continue to rule the land. Once it was revealed, he would have to leave the earth and only rule from the skies. The other gods knew this, and Isis, sister and wife of Osiris, was determined to learn Ra's secret name. With guile and deceit she succeeded, and Ra was forced to leave. Thus the prophecy was fulfilled and Osiris, son of Nut, became the next Pharaoh.
The Appearance of Ra
Ra was usually depicted in human form. He had a falcon head which is crowned with a sun disc. This sun disc was encircled by a sacred cobra named Uraeus. Ra has also been depicted as a man with the head of a beetle and also a human man with the head of a ram. The ancients also depicted Ra in full species form such as a serpent, heron, bull, lion, cat, ram, hawk, beetle, phoenix and others. His main symbol, however, is the sun disk.
The ancient Egyptians believed that as the sun god, Ra’s role was to sail across the heavens during the day in his boat called the “Barque of Millions of Years.” In the morning when Ra emerged from the east, his boat was named, “Madjet” which meant “becoming strong.” By the end of the day the boat was called, “Semektet” which meant “becoming weak.” At the end of the day, it was believed that Ra died (swallowed by Nut) and sailed on to the underworld, leaving the moon in his place to light up the world. Ra was reborn at dawn the very next day. During his journey across the heavens during the day, he fought with his main enemy, an evil serpent named Apep, or also, The Lord of Chaos. In some stories, Ra, in the form of a cat named Mau, defeats the evil serpent, Apep. This is part of the reason why cats are so highly-revered in Egypt.
In the Legend of Ra, Isis and the Snake, as Ra grew old, he dribbled saliva. Isis knew that Ra’s power was hidden in his secret name. Isis gathered Ra’s saliva and created a snake out of it. She set the snake in Ra’s path and it bit him. Isis wanted the power Ra had always enjoyed, but she knew she had to get him to tell her his secret name. Eventually, because of the pain he was in, Ra allowed Isis to “search through him” and in so doing, she healed him and Ra’s power was transferred over to her.
The Tree of Life is an important religious symbol to the Egyptians. The Tree of Life was located within Ra’s sun temple in Heliopolis and was considered sacred. The fruit that sprang from this tree was not available to humans, but only in aging-rituals reserved for pharaohs. The Tree of Life is also referred to as the mythical, sacred Ished tree. Eternal life came to those who ate the fruit from the Tree of Life.
Another important ancient Egyptian symbol connected to Ra is the “Bennu”. Bennu is the name of the bird that represented Ra’s soul. This bird is a phoenix and it was seated at the Tree of Life in Ra’s Sun Temple in Heliopolis. Inside the temple, on top of an obelisk, sat the Benben Stone. This pyramid-shaped stone served as a beacon to Bennu and is also an important ancient Egyptian religious symbol.
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