Ra - "Sun" Embodied in the golden sun which is His Symbol, Ra is
Netjer of light, life, and heat, and the power inherent in the
sun which warms our planet. In several forms, Ra has been
venerated as the central Name of Netjer of the Kemetic faith
through its entire history, considered both Father and the King
of All Netjeru, the Great One Who both creates and destroys. Ra
rose to prominence as the early dynasties of the Old Kingdom,
who venerated Him as their family patron, began to call
themselves "sons of Ra" in official titularies and constructed
sun-temples and pyramids (a special symbol of Ra via their
connection to the Ben-ben, a pyramidal-shaped stone from which
Ra as a Bennu (a white heron, called "Phoenix" by the Greeks)
rose from Nun and sang the song of creation) in His honor. Ra's
popularity, as immanent as sunlight itself, continued throughout
Kemetic history; even great Names as Amen and Ptah had to "share
the spotlight" with Ra, and in Amen's case, a composite Name,
Amen-Ra, King of Netjeru, wa