Reading Notes: Ancient Egypt Part A

 

Ra the Sun God drawn out by Ancient Egyptians who pictured him with the head of an animal and the body of a man.

Image from Quora.

For my story this week, I want to focus on Ra, the Ancient Egyptian sun god. Ra was more powerful and more divine than Nu, which was the waste of water that was the abode of the Great Father who created Ra. Ra caused the Earth and heavens to rise out of the waste of water at the beginning of time, which caused the land to rise up from water. With his own thoughts and desires, he wished for all of the living things that are now upon the Earth and they appeared before him. Ra is the creator of mankind and animals, according to legend. Ra was the god of all gods and held a secret name which gave him divine power and was hidden in his bosom. Isis, an enchantress of Earth, was tired of living on the land and wanted to be a goddess. She cast a spell onto the spit of Ra to form a great serpent who would bite Ra and poison him as he walked along his routine path. When the serpent bit Ra, Iris came to help. She said that by possessing his divine name, she could save him from the serpent's poison. Ra eventually agreed and spoke words allowed that transferred his divine name from his heart to hers. He disappeared and it took a minute for Iris to understand what his name truly was. Using the power from his name, she saved Ra and the god was made whole. Everything was right within the world again. If I retell this story, I would like to make it so Iris casts the world into darkness. She kills the mighty God Ra instead of saving him because he refuses to give up his name. It would be one heck of a plot twist in my opinion!

Bibliography: Egyptian Myth and Legend by Donald Mackenzie (1907).