Ra (Atum or Re) – The great sun god of Heliopolis whose cult spread across Egypt to become the most popular by the Fifth Dynasty (2498-2345 BCE). The pyramids of Giza are associated with Ra as the supreme lord and creator god who ruled over the land of the living and the dead.
He drives his sun barge across the heavens by day, showing another aspect of himself with each advance of the sun across the sky, and then dives into the underworld in the evening where the barge is threatened by the primordial serpent Apep (Apophis) and must be defended by the other gods and souls of the justified dead.
Ra was among the most important and popular gods of Egypt. Even when the god Amun rose in prominence, Ra’s position was undiminished and he merged with Amun to become Amun-Ra, the supreme god.
