Ra navigated the heavens in a solar barque known as the Mandjet, reflecting the central role of river travel along the Nile in ancient Egyptian society.

Often personified as a fierce lioness goddess like Sekhmet, the Eye acted as Ra's violent counterpart to slaughter mortals who rebelled against his rule.

Egyptians observed scarabs rolling dung across the sand and likened it to the morning aspect of Ra, Khepri, rolling the sun across the eastern horizon.

Ra was frequently merged with the avian sky god Horus to become Ra-Horakhty, resulting in his depiction as a falcon-headed man crowned with a solar disk.