Re’s cult of the sun was based at Heliopolis. He was thought to have fathered kings and all important gods. Re took several forms throughout the day.

He was a living god in the day and a dead one at night. He was born at dawn as a small child, became a man in his prime by midday and was an old man by sunset – only to be reborn the next morning.

During this time, he sailed across the heavens in a boat called the ‘Barque of Millions of Years’. In this way, the Egyptians explained the transit of the sun through the sky.