Dictionary Of God And Godedesses

Revanta 265“Eye of Re” is a very complex one, suggestingseveral things including, in essence, his powerand perfection.The cult of Re took on major importance atHeliopolis from the middle of the third millenniumwhen the V Dynasty rulers entitled themselvesas the sons of Re. Closely linked with theunderworld god Osiris, the notion took shapethat the combined deity was Re by day as the sunclimbed above the eastern horizon and becameOsiris, lord of the western horizon, at the onset ofnight.Re was regarded with a considerable amount offear. The cobra element suggests his ability todeliver instant nemesis. By contrast, he is said tohave created mankind from his tears. Severalminor deities were also, by repute, generated outof drops of blood falling from Re’s penis which heself-mutilated (see SIA).RedaratorMinor god of agriculture. Roman. Associatedwith second ploughing and invoked by sacrifice,generally with TELLUS and CERES.RenenutetSnake goddess. Egyptian. Also possessing fertilityconnotations, she guarded the pharaoh in theform of a cobra. There is some evidence thatshe enjoyed a cult in the Faiyum, the highly fertileregion of the Nile valley. She is depictedeither in human form or as a hooded cobra, inwhich case she bears close association with thegoddess WADJET who is embodied in the uraeus.Her gaze has the power to conquer enemies. Inher capacity as a fertility goddess she sucklesinfant rulers and provides good crops and harvests,linked in this capacity to OSIRIS and themore ancient grain god NEPER. She is also amagical power residing in the linen robe of thepharaoh and in the linen bandages with which heis swathed in death.At Edfu Renenutet takes the title “lady of therobes.” In the Greco-Roman period, she becameadopted by the Greeks as the goddess Hermouthisand was syncretized with ISIS.ReretSee TAWERET.Rešep (A)MukalWar and plague god. Western Semitic (Canaaniteand Phoenician), originating in Syria. Introducedinto Egypt by the XVIII Dynasty duringthe sixteenth century BC and rapidly achievedsome prominence. His wife is Itum and hewas also known as Rešep-Amukal and Rešep-Sulman.Rešep is probably modeled on the MesopotamianNERGAL. He is depicted as a youthful,warlike god, often with a gazelle’s head springingfrom his forehead, and with a spear in his righthand. In Egyptian iconography he is depictedwearing the crown of Upper Egypt surmountedin front by the head of a gazelle. He has linkswith the Theban war god MONTU and wasthought of as a guardian deity in battle by manyEgyptian pharaohs; he is said to have shot firebrandswith a bow and arrow. He also exerted abenign influence against disease. The influence ofRešep extended to Cyprus during the pre-Hellenic period and at the time of Hellenizationhe was allied to and perhaps syncretized withAPOLLO. Also Rašap, Rešef.Revanta (with wealth)God of hunters. Hindu. The son of SURYA andSANJNA. Known mainly from eastern India andGujarat, he protects mankind against the dangersof the forest. Infrequently depicted in art.