High Priest of Ra

The High Priest of Ra or of Re was known in Egyptian as the wr-mꜢw, which translates as Greatest of Seers.

The main cult of Ra was in ancient Heliopolis, northeast of present-day Cairo. The high priests of Ra are not as well documented as the high priests of other deities such as Amun and Ptah.

List of high priests

Old Kingdom (c. 2686 BCE – 2181 BCE)

• Imhotep, time of Djoser, Third Dynasty
• Prince Rahotep, possibly son of Sneferu, Fourth Dynasty

Middle Kingdom (c. 2055 BCE–1550 BCE)

• Nubkaura-ankh, from offering table and rock inscription
• Khakaureemhat, papyrus from Lahun
• Maakherure-emhutaat, seal
• Ra, seal
• Khentyhetep Iyemiatib, seal
• Iuefsenef, seal

New Kingdom (c. 1550 BCE–1069 BCE)

;Eighteenth Dynasty

• Ahmose, son of Amenhotep II. Served during the reign of Thutmose IV
• Pawah served during the reign of Akhenaten
• Paraemheb served during the reign of Horemheb, and is possibly the same as Paatenemheb in his late career

;Nineteenth Dynasty

• Bak (High Priest of Re) Bak was a royal charioteer and later high priest of Re.
• Amenemope, son of the high priest of Amun, Parennefer called Wennefer
• Meryatum son of Ramesses II and Nefertari
• Rahotep served as Vizier as well as high priest of Re during the reign of Ramesses II.

;Twentieth Dynasty

• Meryatum II served during the Twentieth Dynasty
• Nebmaatre, likely a son of Ramesses IX

Related archaeological elements

The Al-Masalla area of the Al-Matariyyah district, the site of Heliopolis, contains the underground tombs of High Priests of Re of the Sixth Dynasty (2345 BCE—2181 BCE), which were found in the southeast corner of the great Temple of Re—Atum archaeological site. The ancient Masalla Obelisk, or El-Misalla (, trans. obelisk), in Al-Matariyyah is the only surviving element standing of the Re—Atum Temple, constructed by Pharaoh Senusret I (1971 BCE—1926 BCE) of the Twelfth Dynasty.

References