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Ancient Egypt / Religion / Gods /
Re
God in ancient Egyptian religion, where he represented the sun, as well as being in many myths the god who created the world (other myths ascribed this to other gods).
Re was also the origin of Maat, denoting that he was the source of right and justice in the world.
Re was depicted with the head of a hawk, and his chief symbols were the sun disc and the obelisk.
The worship of Re originated in Heliopolis. Kings of Egypt held the tile "Son of Re", as kings claimed their origin with the gods.
In the myths about Re as the creator god, he first rose from the ocean of chaos, created himself first, and then 8 other gods. Indirectly, Re also created the first human beings.
Re was a god who was active on a daily basis, as he traveled across the sky in his solar bark, and had to pass through the underworld during the night. During the nightly travel he had the vanquish the evil serpent Apopis.
Re was joined with a number of other gods into twin-gods, like Harakhty, Sebek and Khnum. But there were also transfusions of qualities from other gods to Re, like when he was given the falcon head from Horus. Around 2000 BCE Re became associated with Amon, and Amon-Re became the principal god for all of Egypt for about 1000 years. Around 1500 BCE the cult around Amon-Re was the model for the first known example of a monotheist religion in the world, the cult around Aten.
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By: Tore Kjeilen
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