Ra was the God of the Sun. He sailed across the heavens in a boat called the 'Barque of Millions of Years'. At the end of each day Ra was thought to die and sailed on his night voyage through the Underworld, leaving the Moon to light the world above. The boat would sail through the twelve doors, representing the twelve hours of night-time. The next dawn, he was born again. |
It was not always smooth sailing. During the day Ra had to fight his chief enemy, a
snake called Apep. He was helped by the other gods, such as Seth and Bastet.
The sun disk on Ra's head often has a cobra round it. A cobra appears on the forehead of
Pharaohs, like Tutankhamun.
Ra was the greatest of the gods and he kept his power in his secret name, which only he knew. He had started to grow old, and sometimes he dribbled. Isis collected some of
his saliva and made it into a snake. She hid the snake where Ra would walk. When
Ra trod on it, it bit him, and Ra screamed in pain. All the gods gathered round,
but none could heal him. Isis said "If you tell me your secret name, this will
give me enough magic power to heal you." Ra didn't want to do this, but
eventually the pain was so bad that he had to. Isis healed him, and ever since
then she has the magic powers that Ra had.
