RA

BIOGRAPHY

PERSONAL DATA

Aliases: Amun, Amun-Ra, Amon-Ra, Atum, Atum-Ra and Khepri
Identity: The general public considers Ra to be a figment of myth
Occupation: Egyptian god of the sun
Citizenship: Egyptian
Group Affiliation(s): Egyptian Gods
Gender: Male
First Appearance: (sun acknowledged to be Ra): Sandman Vol. 2 #20 (October 1990)
(in corporeal form): JSA #44 (March 2003)

OVERVIEW

Ra is the Egyptian god of the sun.

HISTORY

Ra is the ancient Egyptian sun god as well as the father and the most prominent god of that pantheon. At day, he is said to cross the sky as the sun, while his nightly journey takes him across the Egyptian underworld (the Western Lands) in his night-boat. Constantly threatened by the giant snake god Apophis, Ra is protected by minor gods and cats at night.

Ra was the special patron of the pharaos of Egypt, who in their turn claimed to be the direct descendants of Ra. Ra often manifests himself as a human with a falcon's head and a sun disc hovering above his head, but he has also been depicted as just a solar disc or an eye. Ra relinquished the responsibility for Earth to the hawkgod Horus thousands of years ago, and rarely meddles in the affairs of humanity.

He is also known as Amun, Amun-Ra, Amon-Ra, Atum-Re and Khepri. Ra (under the alias Amon) bestows the power of strength upon Black Adam. The mystical object known as the Orb of Ra is somehow imbued with a small portion of Ra's power.

CHRONOLOGY

For a definitive list of appearances of Ra in chronological order click here