Editing Solar deity (section)

== Overview ==
[[File:Stèle Rocher des Doms.jpg|thumb|A solar representation on an anthropomorphic stele from Rocher des Doms, France, [[Chasséen culture|Chasséen]] culture, 5th-4th millennia BC]]

[[Prehistoric Egypt|Predynasty Egyptian]] beliefs attribute [[Atum]] as the Sun god and [[Horus]] as a god of the sky and Sun. As the [[Old Kingdom]] [[theocracy]] gained influence, early beliefs were incorporated into the expanding popularity of [[Ra]] and the [[Osiris]]-[[Horus]] mythology. Atum became Ra-Atum, the rays of the setting Sun. Osiris became the divine heir to Atum's power on Earth and passed his divine authority to his son, Horus.<ref>{{cite book|title=Ancient Civilizations- Egypt- Land and lives of Pharaohs revealed|publisher=Global Book Publishing|isbn=1740480562|pages=79|date=30 October 2005}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=March 2025}} Other early Egyptian myths imply that the Sun is incorporated with the lioness [[Sekhmet]] at night and is reflected in her eyes; or that the Sun is found within the cow [[Hathor]] during the night and reborn each morning as her son (''bull'').<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ancient Egyptian Gods & Goddesses Facts For Kids|url=https://www.historyforkids.net/egyptian-gods.html|access-date=2021-01-20|website=History for kids|date=18 June 2019 |language=en-US}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=March 2025}}

[[Mesopotamia]]n [[Shamash]] played an important role during the [[Bronze Age]], and "my Sun" was eventually used to address royalty. Similarly, South American cultures have a tradition of Sun worship as with the [[Inca Empire|Incan]] [[Inti]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Minster|first=Christopher|date=30 May 2019|title=All About the Inca Sun God|url=https://www.thoughtco.com/inti-the-inca-sun-god-2136316|website=ThoughtCo.}}</ref>

In Germanic mythology, the solar deity is ''[[Sól (Sun)|Sol]];'' in [[Vedas|Vedic]], [[Surya]]; and in Greek, Helios (occasionally referred to as [[Titan (mythology)|Titan]]) and (sometimes) as [[Apollo]]. In [[Proto-Indo-European mythology]] the sun appears to be a multilayered figure manifested as a deity but also perceived as the eye of the sky father [[Dyeus]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sick |first1=David |title=Mit(h)ra(s) and the Myths of the Sun |journal=Numen |date=2004 |volume=51 |issue=4 |pages=432–467 |doi=10.1163/1568527042500140}}</ref>

=== <span class="anchor" id="Theory"></span><!-- [[Solar theory]] redirects here-->Solar myth ===
{{See also|Solar myths}}

Three theories exercised great influence on nineteenth and early twentieth century mythography. The theories were the "solar mythology" of [[Alvin Boyd Kuhn]] and [[Max Müller]], the [[tree worship]] of [[Wilhelm Mannhardt|Mannhardt]], and the [[totemism]] of [[J. F. McLennan]].<ref name="Ridgeway-1915">{{cite web |url=http://www.theatrehistory.com/origins/ridgeway003.html |title=Solar Myths, Tree Spirits, and Totems, The Dramas and Dramatic Dances of Non-European Races |first=William |last=Ridgeway |date=1915 |pages=11–19 |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |access-date=19 March 2015}}</ref>

Müller's "solar mythology" was born from the study of [[Indo-European languages]]. Of them, Müller believed Archaic [[Sanskrit]] was the closest to the language spoken by the [[Aryan]]s. Using the Sanskrit names for deities as a base, he applied [[Grimm's law]] to names for similar deities from different Indo-European groups to compare their [[Etymology|etymological]] relationships to one another. In the comparison, Müller saw the similarities between the names and used these etymological similarities to explain the similarities between their roles as deities. Through the study, Müller concluded that the Sun having many different names led to the creation of multiple solar deities and their mythologies that were passed down from one group to another.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Carrol |first1=Michael P. |title=Some third thoughts on Max Müller and solar mythology |journal=European Journal of Sociology / Archives Européennes de Sociologie / Europäisches Archiv für Soziologie |date=1985 |volume=26 |issue=2 |pages=263–281 |jstor=23997047 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23997047 |access-date=2 October 2021}}</ref>

[[R. F. Littledale]] criticized the Sun myth theory, pointing out that by his own principles, Max Müller was himself only a solar myth. [[Alfred Comyn Lyall|Alfred Lyall]] delivered another attack on the same theory's assumption that tribal gods and heroes, such as those of [[Homer]], were only reflections of the Sun myth by proving that the gods of certain [[Rajput clans]] were actual warriors who founded the clans a few centuries ago, and were the ancestors of the present chieftains.<ref name="Ridgeway-1915" />

=== Solar vessels and chariots ===
==== Solar boats ====
[[File:Ra Barque.jpg|right|thumb|[[Ra]] in his [[solar barque|barque]]]]
[[File:Nebra disc 1.jpg|thumb|The [[Nebra Sky Disc]], [[Unetice culture|Germany]], {{circa|1800}}–1600 BC]]

The Sun was sometimes envisioned as traveling through the sky in a boat. A prominent example is the [[solar barque]] used by Ra in [[ancient Egyptian mythology]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Baines |first1=John R. |editor1-last=Johnston |editor1-first=Sarah Iles |title=Religions of the ancient world : a guide |date=2004 |publisher=Cambridge, Massachusetts : The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press |page=600 |url=https://archive.org/details/religionsofancie0000unse_d0s1/page/n2/mode/2up?q=barque |access-date=3 October 2021 |chapter=Visual Representation|isbn=9780674015173 }}</ref> The [[Neolithic]] concept of a "solar barge" (also "solar bark", "solar barque", "solar boat" and "sun boat", a mythological representation of the Sun riding in a [[boat]]) is found in the later myths of [[ancient Egypt]], with [[Ra]] and [[Horus]]. Several Egyptian kings were buried with [[ancient Egyptian royal ships|ships]] that may have been intended to symbolize the solar barque,<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.solarnavigator.net/egyptian_solar_boat.htm |title=Egypt solar boats |website=solarnavigator.net}}</ref> including the [[Khufu ship]] that was buried at the foot of the [[Great Pyramid of Giza]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Siliotti |first1=Alberto| first2=Zahi |last2=Hawass |year=1997 |title=Guide to the Pyramids of Egypt |pages=54–55}}</ref>

[[File:Heracles on the sea in the bowl of Helios.jpg|thumb|[[Heracles]] in the golden cup-boat of the sun god [[Helios]], 480 BC]]

Solar boats and similar vessels also appear in [[Proto-Indo-European mythology|Indo-European]] mythologies, such as a 'hundred-oared ship' of [[Surya]] in the [[Rigveda|Rig Veda]], the golden boat of [[Saulė]] in [[Baltic mythology]], and the golden bowl of [[Helios]] in [[Greek mythology]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZXrJA_5LKlYC |title=Indo-European Poetry and Myth |date=2007 |last=West |first=M.L. |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199280759 |pages=208–209}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Massetti |first1=Laura |date=2019 |title=Antimachus's Enigma: On Erytheia, the Latvian Sun-goddess and a Red Fish |url=https://www.academia.edu/40428177 |journal=Journal of Indo-European Studies |volume=47 |pages=223–240 |quote=synchronic analysis of Greek passages dealing with the journey of Helios reveals that the poetic image of the golden ‘cup, vessel’ hints at the solar boat.}}</ref> Numerous depictions of solar boats are known from the [[Bronze Age Europe|Bronze Age]] in Europe.<ref>{{cite book |title=The World of Stonehenge |date=June 2022 |pages=147–148 |publisher=British Museum Press |isbn=9780714123493 |last1=Garrow |first1=Duncan |last2=Wilkin |first2=Neil |oclc=1297081545}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Gold und Kult der Bronzezeit |publisher=Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg |year=2003 |isbn=3-926982-95-0}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.academia.edu/24174809 |journal=Hyperboreus |volume=18 |issue=1 |date=2012 |title=Scandinavian Background of Greek Mythic Cosmography: The Sun's Water Transport |last=Panchenko |first=Dmitri |pages=5–20}}</ref> Possible solar boat depictions have also been identified in [[Neolithic Europe|Neolithic]] petroglyphs from the [[Megalith|Megalithic culture]] in western Europe,<ref>{{cite thesis |last=McVeigh |first=Thor |date=2016 |title=Calendars, feasting, cosmology and identities: later Neolithic-early Bronze Age Ireland in European context |url=https://aran.library.nuigalway.ie/handle/10379/6074 |type=PhD |chapter=5.4 Boats and the sun's daily journey |publisher=University of Galway |pages=168–174}}</ref> and in [[Mesolithic]] petroglyphs from northern Europe.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.academia.edu/36843380 |title= 
North Meets South: Theoretical Aspects on theNorthern and Southern Rock Art Traditions in Scandinavia |date=2017 |publisher=Oxbow Books |chapter=The Circumpolar Context of the ‘Sun Ship’ Motif in South Scandinavian Rock Art |last=Lahelma |first=Antti |pages=144–171 |isbn=978-1-78570-820-6}}</ref>

Examples of solar vessels include:
* Neolithic [[petroglyph]]s which are interpreted as depicting solar barges.
* The many early Egyptian goddesses that were seen as sun deities, and the later gods [[Ra]] and [[Horus]] were depicted as riding in a [[Atet|solar barge]]. In Egyptian myths of the afterlife, Ra rides in an underground channel from west to east every night so that he can rise in the east the next morning.
* The [[Nebra sky disk]], {{circa|1800}}–1600 BC, associated with the [[Unetice culture]], which is thought to show a depiction of a gold solar boat.<ref name="Meller-2021">{{cite book|url=https://www.academia.edu/80363367|title=Time is power. Who makes time?: 13th Archaeological Conference of Central Germany|chapter=The Nebra Sky Disc – astronomy and time determination as a source of power|last=Meller|first=Harald|date=2021|publisher=Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte Halle (Saale).|isbn=978-3-948618-22-3}}</ref>
* [[Gold lunulae]] associated with the [[Bell Beaker culture#Solar symbolism|Bell Beaker culture]], {{circa|2400}}–2000 BC, thought to represent solar boats.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.academia.edu/11627053|title='Here comes the sun....: solar symbolism in Early Bronze Age Ireland'|date=Spring 2015|journal=Archaeology Ireland |volume=29|issue=1|pages=26–33|last1=Cahill|first1=Mary}}</ref>
* [[Nordic Bronze Age]] petroglyphs, including those found in [[Tanumshede]], often contain barges and [[sun cross]]es in different constellations. Solar boat imagery also appears on bronze razors from the period.
* Miniature [[:de:Goldboote vom Torshøj|gold boats from Nors]] in Denmark, dating from the [[Nordic Bronze Age]].<ref>{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kx_lxoNwpBo|title=The World of the Nebra Sky Disc: The Nors Boats|last=Meller|first=Harald|website=Halle State Museum of Prehistory|date=2022}}</ref>
* The [[Caergwrle Bowl]] from Wales, dating from the [[Bronze Age Britain|British Bronze Age]], {{circa|1300 BC}}.<ref>{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nzh0pnpZudw|title=The World of the Nebra Sky Disc: The Caergwrle Ship|last=Meller|first=Harald|website=Halle State Museum of Prehistory|date=2022}}</ref>
* Solar boat motifs depicted on bronze artefacts from the [[Urnfield culture]] and [[Lusatian culture]], {{circa|1300}}–500 BC.
* Depictions of solar boats on Iron Age Celtic artefacts, such as the Petrie Crown from Ireland (1st century AD), and ornaments on the [[Vix grave]] wagon from France (500 BC).<ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.academia.edu/27838177|title=Reflections on the Past. Essays in honour of Frances Lynch|chapter=Tal-y-Llyn and the nocturnal voyage of the sun|date=2012|last=Waddell|first=John|editor-last1=Britnell|editor-first1=W.J.|editor-last2=Silvester|editor-first2=R.J.|publisher=Cambrian Archaeological Association|isbn=9780947846084|pages=337–350}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.sidestone.com/books/l-archeologie-et-la-mythologie-celtique|title=l'Archeologie et la Mythologie Celtique|last=Waddell|first=John|date=2022|publisher=Sidestone Press|isbn=9789464260595}}</ref><ref>{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzAcx8kr6SM&t=2630s|last=Waddell|first=John|title=2014 Rhind Lecture 2: "The Otherworld Hall on the Boyne"|website=Society of Antiquaries of Scotland|date=2014}}</ref>

==== <span class="anchor" id="Chariot"></span> Solar chariots ====
{{redirect-multi|4|Solar chariot|Sun chariot|Sun Chariot|Chariot of the Sun|the racehorse|Sun Chariot (horse)}}
[[File:Solvognen-00100.jpg|thumb|The [[Trundholm sun chariot]], [[Nordic Bronze Age|Denmark]], {{circa|1500-1300 BC}}]]

The concept of the "solar chariot" is younger than that of the solar barge and is typically [[Proto-Indo-Europeans|Indo-European]], corresponding with the Indo-European expansion after the invention of the chariot in the 2nd millennium BC.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Feldman |first1=Marian H. |last2=Sauvage |first2=Caroline |title=Objects of Prestige? Chariots in the Late Bronze Age Eastern Mediterranean and Near East |journal=Ägypten und Levante / Egypt and the Levant |date=2010 |volume=20 |pages=67–181 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23789937 |access-date=2 October 2021 |publisher=Austrian Academy of Sciences Press|doi=10.1553/AEundL20s67 |jstor=23789937 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> The reconstruction of the [[Proto-Indo-European religion]] features a "solar [[chariot]]" or "sun chariot" with which the Sun traverses the sky.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kristiansen |first1=Kristian |year=2005 |title=The Nebra find and early Indo-European religion |journal=Congresses of the Halle State Museum for Prehistory |volume=5 |publisher=[[Halle State Museum of Prehistory]] |url=https://www.academia.edu/565963 |via=Academia.edu}}</ref>

[[File:The struggle of the nations - Egypt, Syria, and Assyria (1896) (14774936871).jpg|thumb|Gold boat model mounted on chariot wheels, from the tomb of Queen [[Ahhotep II|Ahhotep]], {{circa|1550 BC}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://qph.cf2.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-1d719880b541134441d428b23398713e |title=Photo of queen Ahhotep's gold boat model}}</ref>]]

Chariots were introduced to Egypt in the [[Second Intermediate Period of Egypt|Hyksos period]], and were seen as solar vehicles associated with the sun god in the subsequent [[New Kingdom of Egypt|New Kingdom]] period.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.academia.edu/5630117 |title=Chasing Chariots. Proceedings of the First International Chariot Conference |date=2012 |publisher=Sidestone Press |chapter=Vehicle of the Sun: The Royal Chariot in the New Kingdom |last=Calvert |first=Amy |pages=45–71}}</ref> A gold solar boat model from the tomb of [[Ahhotep II|Queen Ahhotep]], dating from the beginning of the New Kingdom ({{circa|1550 BC}}), was mounted on four-spoked chariot wheels.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.academia.edu/4635066 |journal=Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections |volume=2 |issue=3 |date=2010 |title=Ahhotep's Silver Ship Model: The Minoan Context |last=Wachsmann |first=Shelley |pages=31–41|doi=10.2458/azu_jaei_v02i3_wachsmann |doi-access=free }}</ref> Similarities have been noted with the [[Trundholm sun chariot|Trundholm Sun Chariot]] from Denmark, dating from {{circa|1500}}–1400 BC, which was also mounted on four-spoked wheels.<ref name="Meller-2021"/>

Examples of solar chariots include:
* In Norse mythology, the chariot of the goddess [[Sól (Sun)|Sól]], drawn by [[Árvakr and Alsviðr]] (‘early awake’ and ‘all-swift’). The [[Trundholm sun chariot]] dates to the [[Nordic Bronze Age]], about 2,500 years earlier than written attestations of the Norse myth, but is often associated with it.
* Greek [[Helios]] (or [[Apollo]]) riding in a chariot.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.theoi.com/Titan/Helios.html |title=Helios |website= Theoi.com |access-date=22 September 2010}}</ref> (See also [[Phaethon|Phaëton]])<ref>{{cite web |url=http://thanasis.com/helios.htm |title=Helios & Phaethon | website= Thanasis.com |access-date=18 September 2010}}</ref>
* [[Sol Invictus]] depicted riding a ''[[quadriga]]'' on the reverse of a [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] [[Denarius|coin]].<ref>[[:File:ProbusCoin.jpg|Image of Probus Coin]]</ref>
* Hindu [[Surya]] riding in a chariot drawn by seven horses.

In Chinese culture, the sun chariot is associated with the passage of time. For instance, in the poem ''Suffering from the Shortness of Days'', [[Li He]] of the [[Tang dynasty]] is hostile towards the legendary [[dragon]]s that drew the sun chariot as a vehicle for the continuous progress of time.<ref name="Bien-2012" /> The following is an excerpt from the poem:
{{poem quote|
I will cut off the dragon's feet, chew the dragon's flesh,
so that they can't turn back in the morning or lie down at night.
Left to themselves the old won't die; the young won't cry.<ref name="Bien-2012">{{cite book |last1=Bien |first1=Gloria |title=Baudelaire in China a Study in Literary Reception |date=2012 |publisher=[[University of Delaware]] |location=Lanham |isbn=9781611493900 |page=20}}</ref>
}}

=== Gender ===
[[File:Origin of the Cave Door Dance (Amaterasu) by Shunsai Toshimasa 1889.jpg|thumb|left|Goddess [[Amaterasu]]]]
Solar deities are often thought of as male (and [[lunar deity|lunar deities]] as being female) but the opposite has also been the case.{{sfn|Monaghan|2010|pp=xix-xxi}} In [[Germanic mythology]], the Sun is female, and the Moon is male. Other European cultures that have sun goddesses include the [[Lithuanian mythology|Lithuanians]] ([[Saulė]]) and [[Latvian mythology|Latvians]] (Saule), the [[Finnish mythology|Finns]] ([[Päivätär]], [[Beiwe]]) and the related [[Hungarian mythology|Hungarians]]. Sun goddesses are found around the world in Australia ([[Bila (deity)|Bila]], [[Wala (deity)|Wala]]); in [[Indian tribal religions]] (Bisal-[[Mariamma]], [[Donyi-Polo#Theology and cosmology|Bomong]], [[Khasi people#Religion|'Ka Sgni]]) and Sri Lanka ([[Pattini]]); among the [[Hittite mythology and religion|Hittites]] ([[Wurusemu]]), Berbers ([[Tafukt]]), Egyptians ([[Hathor]], [[Sekhmet]]), and [[Canaanite religion|Canaanites]] ([[Shapash]]); in the Canary Islands ([[Chaxiraxi]], [[Magec]]); in Native America, among the [[Cherokee spiritual beliefs|Cherokee]] ([[Cherokee mythology|Unelanuhi]]), Natchez (Oüa Chill/Uwahci∙ł), [[Inuit religion|Inuit]] ([[Sun and Moon (Inuit myth)|Siqiniq]]), and [[Miwok mythology|Miwok]] ([[Miwok mythology|He'-koo-lās]]); and in Asia among the [[Japanese mythology|Japanese]] ([[Amaterasu]]).{{sfn|Monaghan|2010|pp=xix-xxi}}

The [[cobra]] (of Pharaoh, son of Ra), the [[lion]]ess (daughter of Ra), and the [[cow]] (daughter of Ra), are the dominant symbols of the most ancient Egyptian deities. They were female and carried their relationship to the sun atop their heads, and their cults remained active throughout the history of the culture. Later another sun god ([[Aten]]) was established in the [[eighteenth dynasty of Egypt|eighteenth dynasty]] on top of the other solar deities, before the "aberration" was stamped out and the old pantheon re-established. When male deities became associated with the sun in that culture, they began as the offspring of a mother (except Ra, King of the Gods who gave birth to himself).{{citation needed|date=October 2021}}