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Sun Gods and Sun Goddesses

Index of sun gods of the ancient world

By N.S. Gill, About.com

There have been sun gods throughout history. Some are depicted as traveling across the sky in a vessel of some sort, like a boat, chariot, or cup. The Egyptians differentiated among the aspects of the sun and had several gods associated with it. The Greeks and Romans also had more than one sun god. It seems that most sun deities are male and counterparts to the often female moon deities.

1. Amaterasu

Japan
Sun goddess

2. Apollo

Greece and Rome
Sun god

3. Freyr

Norse
Sun god
Not the main Norse sun god, but a fertility god associated with the sun.

4. Garuda

Hindu
Bird God

5. Helios (Helius)

Greece
Sun God
Before Apollo was the sun god of the Greeks, Helios held that position

7. Inti

Inca
Sun God

8. Liza

West African
Sun God

9. Lugh

Celtic
Sun God

10. Re (Ra)

Egypt
Mid-day Sun God
One of the Egyptian gods shown with a solar disk. Center of worship was Heliopolis. Later associated with Horus as Re-Horakhty. Also combined with Amun to form Amun-Ra, a solar creator god.

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