Ra

In Maatian or ancient Egyptian theology, Ra (Re) is the Creator and has many names, manifestations, and forms according to the sacred texts, beginning with the earliest discourse on Ra in the Pyramid Texts (PT). In the Pyramid and Coffin Texts (Book of Vindication [BOV]), Ra also has the names Ra-Atum, Atum, Ra Kheper, or Kheperra and Kheper. In the BOV, Ra says, “I am Ra—I am Atum” and “I am Atum in his name Ra.” In the Pyramid Texts, it says of Atum, “You develop in this your identity (name) of Kheper.” The names Atum and Kheper represent different aspects of Ra. Atum means totality and completeness, one who is complete and one who completes. Thus, he is called “Lord to the Limit (nb-r-dr)” and “Lord of totality” or “Lord of All (nb-tm).” Kheper, which means becoming, coming into being, or bringing into being, represents the infinite developmental and creative aspects of Ra.

Also, in the Pyramid Texts, Ra as Atum is praised in this way: “Homage to you, Atum. Homage to you, Kheper, the self-creating one. You are high in your identity as the mound. You come into being in this your identity as Bringer-into-Being (Kheper).” Here the mound refers to the sacred mound of creation that is depicted as both the mound on which Ra stood to create the world and as Ra rising from the primordial waters of Nun as the sacred benben stone, or obelisk—like the pillar in the Benu-Phoenix Temple of On (Heliopolis), the sacred city of Ra.

Also, because the word for sun is ra and the sun is conceived as both the physical expression of Ra in his glory and the right eye of Ra, Ra is customarily called the “sun god” in Egyptological literature. However, a critical reading of the texts allows for the approach found here, which is to understand Ra in his spiritual form, rather than as his most definitive symbol, the sun disk or itn, which was the focus of Akhenaton's worship during the Amarna Period. As Ra states in the Coffin Texts, “I am Ra in his first appearances, I am the Great God, the Self-Created One who created his identities (names), i.e., as Ra, Atum, and Kheper.” Moreover, the invisibility of Ra is emphasized in his identity and name Amen, the Hidden or Invisible One, and thus the joint name Amen-Ra. In a praise poem of Amen Ra, it defines him as “power with many names, who cannot be known. He is remote from sight and near in hearing.” Also, the combining of Ra's name with other divine spirits and names extended throughout Kemetic history, and thus one encounters names such as Ra-Harakhty, Khnum-Ra, and Sobek-Ra.

The evolution of the theology of Ra begins with the Pyramid Texts, as noted previously, and was clearly aided in its establishment and development by its conceptualization of the pharaoh as the “son of Ra,” a title that became a central part of the pharaoh's titulary as early as the 4th dynasty. This designation as the offspring of God and his images would spread to humans in the First Intermediate Period literature. Ra, as the Creator in his name Atum, comes into being and begins creation. His first act of creation of the world is to bring forth [Page 557]Shu (air) and Tefnut (moisture), the first divine powers. Afterward, they brought into being Nut (Heaven) and Geb (Earth), and they, in turn, produced Osiris and Isis and Seth and Nephtys. In the BOV, Tefnut is identified as Maat, the divine power of truth, justice, rightness, and order.

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