TYPE: Creator god and Sun god
ORIGIN: Egyptian
KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP: circa 3000 BCE, possibly earlier, until the end of Egyptian history circa 400 CE
SYNONYMS: Ra (Roman and Greek); Re-Atum; Re-Khepri; Amun-Re.
CENTER(S) OF CULT: Heliopolis and elsewhere through the Nile valley.
ART REFERENCES: Sculptures, relief carvings, wall paintings, papyrus illustrations.
LITERARY SOURCES: Pyramid Texts, etc.; the Westcar Papyrus.
INFORMATION: Re is one of several manifestations of the sun god and creator god of Egypt, emphasizing a fragmented tribal past in the pre-Dynastic period. According to legend he created himself out of the mound that emerged from the primeval ocean. In other depictions he arose as a child from the primeval lotus blossom. He is generally depicted in the form of a falcon wearing the sun disc on its head, surrounded by the serpentine form of the cobra goddess Wadjet. Re is also perceived as god of the underworld. He is known in some inscriptions as "Re in Osiris, Osiris in Re", in which case he often rides in his boat as a human figure with a ram's head surmounted by a sun disc and accompanied by the cobra goddess. The notion of the "Eye of Re" is a very complex one, suggesting several things including, in essence, his power and perfection.
The cult of Re took on major importance at Heliopolis from the middle of the third millennium when the V Dynasty rulers entitled themselves as the sons of Re. Closely linked with the underworld god Osiris, the notion took shape that the combined deity was Re by day as the sun climbed above the eastern horizon and became Osiris, lord of the western horizon, at the onset of night.
Re was regarded with a considerable amount of fear. The cobra element suggests his ability to deliver instant retribution. By contrast, he is said to have created mankind from his tears. Several minor deities were also, by repute, generated out of drops of blood falling from Re's penis, which he self-mutilated. (See Sia).