Ra-Khepri
Creative god in Heliopolis incarnating the rising sun Principal place of worship: Heliopolis (lower Egypt) Representation: a beetle or man with the head of a beetle
Khepri is the form the sun adopts at dawn. In hieroglyphic writing, his name has just one sign, the beetle, which belongs to the group of triliteral signs. This term is used for a sign representing three consonants, or semi-consonants: here hpr, or kheper if the vowels are pronounced. The precise translation of the word is still difficult to give. Literally, one could translate it by "coming to existence," to "become," or to "be." Whatever its real signification, it expresses an. idea of birth, transformation and becoming. By deduction, the god Khepri shall be understood as "the one who came into existence by himself." And the cosmogony of Heliopolis relates very precisely the origins of this solar god: he emerged from the primeval ocean, Nun, and fashioned a physical body for himself. He has neither father nor mother: he is his own creator. He is at the same time Khepri, Re' and Alum: the sun at dawn, the sun at its zenith, and the setting sun. Thus Khepri is always pictured as a beetle. Sometimes he is depicted as a man holding a beetle over his head, or more rarely, a man with the head of a beetle.
It seems quite obvious that the representation of Khepri is an analogy between the behaviour of the beetle and that of the sun. According to Plutarch, these animals have no female representative; they "put their semen into a kind of matter that they turn into a ball which they roll by pushing it with their hind leg." Then they hide it in long underground galleries so that the little coleopter can be born protected from exterior aggressions. The ball they push describes, in a figurative fashion, the course of the sun in the sky; the burying of the eggs and the birth of the young beetle, coming out of hiding, symbolize the daily rejuvenation of the sun after its nightly journey.
In the tombs of the Valley of the Kings there are many scenes that recall the voyages of the sun. These illustrated texts, called "cosmographies," describe the nightly journey of Re' in the infernal regions of the Under World in very detailed manner. The most astonishing, as well as the oldest, of all these compositions about Tuat, the world below, is called the "Book of What is in the Tuat". The twelve hours of the night are organized as regions crossed by a river, the underground Nile. The sun boat floats on this river, with the god Re', his attendants and the deceased king on board.
On its banks, hundreds of deceased inhabitants of the That stand by to acclaim the sun god. The retinue crosses the twelve subterranean regions, where obstacles or cosmic enemies are there to constantly impede its long journey. In particular, Apophis, the giant malignant snake, constantly attacks the divine bark with the intention of overturning it. But each time he is sent back to chaos. At last, at dawn, the god Re' appears triumphantly in the shape of Khepri, the sun reborn. He can then start his diurnal trip.
Ra-Harakhty
-------------------------------------------------
"Horus of the Horizon"
Creative god in Heliopolis, the incarnation of the sun at its zenith under the name of Re'-Harakhty
Principal place of worship: Heliopolis (lower Egypt) Representation: a man with the head of a falcon or a falcon crowned with a solar disc
----------------------------------------------
His name means "Horus of the Horizon" and he represents one of the diurnal forms of the sun god in Heliopolis, In this very ancient tradition, Re' takes on personalities and representations that change during his trip through the sky. In the morning, he is Khepri, the rising sun; he is depicted as a beetle. At its zenith, he becomes Re'·Harakhty, and takes the image of a falcon by assuming the personalities of the sun Re', and of the falcon of the horizon, Harakhty, In the evening he becomes Atum, the setting sun, represented as an old man. Harakhty, there, is the symbol of the sun in all its glory,that shines upon the organized world: "the one that reigns beyond time and space." That is why very often the texts indifferently use the names of Re'. Harakhty, Harakhty or Re' to designate this supreme deity, who is generally called "the Universal Master" in the myths and in the legends,
His symbolic representation reminds us of his two main qualities. He is shown as a man with the head of a hawk, or sometimes simply as a hawk crowned with a great solar disc. The falcon symbolizes his celestial features; the disc his solar personality.
In the temple of Horus in Edfu, the inner walls recall the tales of the battles Horus led against the enemies of Re'. The text stipulates the exact name of the protagonists: they are Horus Behedety, particularly venerated in Upper Egypt, in Edfu, as solar and royal god, and Re'·Harakhty, the victorious sun. Of course, this legend could have been interpreted the same way if the scribe had just mentioned simply Horus and Re'. But if these details appear it is because they are really important: we are in Edfu, where Horus Behedety is worshipped and he is a particular form of Horus. Therefore, it is natural that local myths should show divine personalities that have a direct relationship with the local cult.
We are "in the year 363 of his Majesty, the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Re'-Harakhty." The king of gods is in Nubia to contemplate his creation. But during this short routine visit, he learns that there is a conspiracy against him. Of course, amongst the plotters are the henchmen of Apophis, the cosmic enemy who never ceases to attack the solar vessel to impede the correct progress of the universe. Re'.Harakhty immediately has his son Horus Behedety called for, and asks him to get rid of his enemies. The first battle is a great victory for Horus Behedety. But the conspirators retreat and move to Egypt. Horus Behedety persecutes them all the way up to the Delta of the Nile, winning battle after battle. But the war never ceases, because each time the enemies reappear under other forms: they take the forms of Seth or Apophis, and turn into hippopotami or crocodiles. In the end, Horus Behedety manages to push them back all the way to the Red Sea, beyond the borders of Egypt. He even makes them find refuge in foreign and hostile Asian countries. Thoth and Re'-Harakhty congratulate him vigorously, and everyone goes back to his own home:
Re'-Harakhty goes back to Nubia and Horus Behedety reinstates ills temple in Edfu.
It seems obvious that the elaboration of this myth by the clergy of Horus Behedety in Edfu is an answer to a religious necessity. In these few words, the god of the town is given a direct filiation to the king of gods: in this legend, Horus Behedety is the son of Re'· Harakhty. Besides, he is given the leading part in the fight between the cosmic enemies and in the keeping of the order of the universe.
