Mythology Book

272

R

a was god of the sun and

also a creator god, who

rose from chaos to create

himself. Every day he crossed the

heavens in a barque, or ship, the

“Boat of Millions of Years,” bringing

sun to the land. When Ra rose each

morning, the barque was called

Manzet (“becoming strong”). By

sunset, the boat was known as the

Mesektet (“becoming weak”).

Every night, Ra undertook a

deadly journey as he sailed through

the Underworld, Duat, in his night

barque. With him in the boat were

divine personifications of his

powers: Heka (creative power), Sia

(perception), Hu (the word of god),

and Maat (cosmic harmony). All

night, Maat held up the ankh, the

hieroglyphic sign for “life,” so that

Ra, although now dead, could later

nurture new life inside himself.

Also with him in the night barque

Seth spears the serpent Apophi,

from a detail on an Egyptian scribe’s

coffin (ca.984 bce), representing the

victory over the forces of darkness

that allowed the sun god to rise again.

HAIL TO YOU,

RA, PERFECT

EACH DAY!

THE NIGHT BARQUE OF RA

IN BRIEF

THEME

Rebirth and renewal

SOURCES

Book of Amduat, Anonymous,

ca. 14 25 bce; Coffin Texts,

Anonymous, ca. 2050 –180 0 bce;

Book of the Dead, Anonymous,

ca. 1550–50 bce; Book of

Smiting Down Apophis,

Anonymous, ca. 312 bce.

SETTING

Ancient Egypt and Duat, the

Underworld.

KEY FIGURES

Ra The sun god.

Heka, Sia, Hu, and Maat

Ra’s companions in the

night barque.

Thoth Moon god and

steersman.

Isis Goddess of magic.

Seth Ra’s protector.

Khepri God of rebirth.

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ANCIENT EGYPT AND AFRICA 273

See also: The creation and the first gods 266–71 ■ Ra's secret name 272–73 ■

Osiris and the Underworld 276–83

were other gods, including the

steersman Thoth; Isis, whose spells

made the boat move; and Seth, who

guarded and protected Ra’s lifeless

body as he journeyed through the

12 gates that marked the passage

of the hours of darkness and the 12

countries of Duat.

Into the underworld

Beyond the first gate, a great

company of gods greeted Ra. They

prepared the barque for its journey

through the night and took hold of

the tow ropes running through the

12 countries of the Underworld to

pull the boat along the river.

In the seventh and most

perilous country of Duat, Isis

summoned up the serpent god,

Mehen, to form a sacred protective

canopy over Ra. However, another

serpent lay in wait for the sun

god—the chaos serpent, Apophis

(or Apep), Ra’s eternal enemy.

Stretched along a sandbank in the

middle of the river to conceal his

monstrous form, Apophis fixed the

gods with his hypnotizing gaze

and opened his mouth wide to

swallow the river and the night

barque. The goddess Isis disabled

Apophis with her words of power,

Seth speared the serpent, and Ra,

in the form of the Cat of Heliopolis

(“Sun City”), cut off its head. Chaos

was held at bay for another day,

although a revived Apophis lay in

wait again the next night, hoping

to swallow Ra and so extinguish

the sun forever.

The sun rises again

As Ra passed through the eighth

land of Duat, called Sarcophagus

of the Gods, embalmed and

mummified deities cried out in

praise of Ra. In the tenth country,

the god of rebirth—Khepri, in the

form of a scarab beetle—united

his soul with the soul of Ra to

accompany him through the

remaining stages of the journey.

The twelth and final country

took the form of another monstrous

serpent, named Life of the Gods.

But the barque was towed safely

through the serpent’s mouth, Ra

was fully transformed into Khepri,

and his old body was thrown

overboard. The Manzet, the sunrise

barque, then emerged into the

glorious dawn. ■

The sun god

Ra was not the oldest of the

ancient Egyptian gods, but

he became revered above

all others as the creator of

everything. From the Second

Dynasty (ca. 3000 bce), his

chief center of worship was

the city of Heliopolis (now part

of Cairo). By the Fifth Dynasty

(ca. 2500 bce), the pharaohs

of Egypt were identifying

themselves with Ra and

building temples to the god.

Later pharaohs referred to

themselves as "sons of Ra"

and added his name to theirs.

Ra himself took three main

forms. As the rising sun, he

was Khepri, the scarab beetle.

As the midday sun, he was

Ra, usually shown with the

body of a man and the head of

a falcon, surmounted by a

golden disc encircled by the

sacred cobra, Uraeus. As the

sun setting in the west, he

was Atum, the god of creation,

sometimes protrayed as an old

man leaning on a stick. This

daily cycle of death and

rebirth came to symbolize the

life cycle of humankind, with

the hope of finding, as Ra

himself had, a new birth at the

end of life.

A chest ornament, or pectoral,

found on a mummy of the 1st

millennium bce, shows a scarab

beetle, whose form Ra took at the

end of his journey through Duat.

Over the body of Ra, the

serpent Mehen casts his

protecting coils, for now is

the time of danger.

Ancient Egyptian

Legends

Hail to thee, Ra, at thy

rising; the night and the

darkness are past.

Ancient Egyptian

Legends

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