Ra

Ra is the supreme manifestation of the Egyptian sun god of Heliopolis and one of the most important members of the Ancient Egyptian pantheon.

The Egyptians believed that each day the sun was re-born. In the morning after a bath and breakfast he took a journey across the sky in his heavenly boat and would spend an hour of each day inspecting each of his 12 provinces. When the sun went down in the evening Ra was believed to enter the underworld until the next morning. All night long Rahad to fight his enemy Apep the terrible cosmic serpent who lived in the underworld.

Ra is usually depicted as a falcon wearing a sun disc on his head.

The rulers of Ancient Egypt called themselves Pharaohs - literally "Sons of Ra" - as a means of establishing their divinity.