astronomy

List of solar deities

List of solar deities is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand List of solar deities rather than just read about it. In short: A solar deity is a god or goddess who represents the Sun, or an aspect of it, usually by its perceived power and strength. Solar deities and Sun worship can be found throughout most of recorded history in various forms.

Key takeaways

List of solar deities belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect List of solar deities to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of List of solar deities from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

A solar deity is a god or goddess who represents the Sun, or an aspect of it, usually by its perceived power and strength. Solar deities and Sun worship can be found throughout most of recorded history in various forms. The following is a list of solar deities:

African

Bakongo mythology Nzambi Mpungu, Kongo god of the Sun and creation

Bantu mythology Nyambe, the Bantu god of the Sun and creation

Berber/Amazigh mythology Magec, Tenerife goddess of the Sun and light

Igbo mythology Anyanwu, Igbo god believed to dwell in the Sun

Dahomey mythology Mawu, Dahomey goddess associated with the Sun and the Moon

Egyptian mythology Amun, creator deity sometimes identified as a Sun god Aten, god of the Sun, the visible disc of the Sun Atum, the "finisher of the world" who represents the Sun as it sets Bast, cat goddess associated with the Sun Hathor, mother or wife of Horus and Ra and goddess of the Sun Horus, god of the sky whose right eye was considered to be the Sun and his left the Moon Khepri, god of the rising Sun, creation and renewal of life Ptah, god of craftsmanship, the arts, and fertility, sometimes said to represent the Sun at night Ra, god of the Sun Sekhmet, goddess of war and of the Sun, sometimes also plagues and creator of the desert Sopdu, god of war and the scorching heat of the summer Sun (Khnum) The ram god often depicted as Ra's form in the evening entering the river of night and called the divine Potter for creating humans

Guanche mythology Magec, was god or goddess (actual gender is unknown) of the Sun

Nubian mythology Apedemak, the Meroitic god of war and sometimes depicted as the god the Sun

Zulu mythology uMvelinqangi, Xhosa and Zulu people's god of the Sun and sky iNyanga, Zulu people, goddess of the Moon Ukhulukhulwana, Zulu people's ancestor who came from the stars. He taught them to build huts and taught them the high laws of isiNtu

American

Abenaki Mythology Kisosen, the Abenaki solar deity, an eagle whose wings opened to create the day and closed to cause the nighttime

Aztec mythology Huitzilopochtli, god of the Sun and war Nanahuatzin, god of the Sun Teoyaomicqui, god of lost souls, the Sun, and the sixth hour of the day Tonatiuh, god of the Sun and ruler of the heavens

Blackfoot mythology Napioa, the Blackfoot deity of the Sun.

Brazilian mythology Guaraci, god of the Sun (Guarani mythology) Jurupari, solar hero or god (Tupian mythology) Meri, folk hero and god of the Sun.

Cherokee mythology Unelanuhi, Cherokee sun goddess.

Chickasaw mythology Aba' Bínni'li', the Chickasaw creator deity, strongly associated with the sun.

Inca mythology Apu Inti, also known as Apu Punchaw, god of the Sun and patron deity of the Inca Empire Ch'aska ("Venus") or Ch'aska Quyllur ("Morning star") was the goddess of dawn, twilight, youth, and, the planet itself.

Ho-Chunk mythology Herešgúnina, god of evil who was decapitated and made into the sun.

Hopi mythology Tawa, the Hopi creator and god of the Sun.

Inuit mythology Akycha, Sun goddess worshiped in Alaska Siqiniq, goddess of the Sun found across Greenland, northern Canada, and Alaska.

Kathlamet mythology Aqalax, Kathlamet sun woman.

Lakota mythology Wi, Lakota god of the Sun.

Mapuche mythology Antü, Sun deity or pillán of the mapuche from Chile and Argentina

Maya mythology Ah Kin, god of the Sun, bringer of doubt, and protector against the evils associated with darkness Hunahpu, one of the Maya Hero Twins; he transformed into the Sun while his brother transformed into the Moon Kinich Ahau, god of the Sun

Muisca mythology Sué, god of the Sun and husband of Chía, the Moon

Navajo mythology Jóhonaaʼéí, the Navajo Sun god, known as "The One Who Rules the Day"

Other American Indian mythology

Asian

Ainu mythology Chup Kamui, a lunar goddess who switched places with her brother to become goddess of the Sun

Arabian mythology Malakbel, god of the Sun Shams/Shamsun, a solar goddess exalted in Himyar and by the Sabaeans.

Armenian mythology Ar/Arev, the Sun god with its people as "children of the Sun"

Buddhist mythology Marici, goddess of the heavens, the Sun, and light Surya, god of the Sun (Suriya Pariththa, Suthra Pitaka, Pali canon, Theravada Buddhism)

Canaanite mythology Shapash, goddess of the Sun Ba'al, god of life and fertility, also associated with the Sun and storms

Chinese mythology

Doumu, Sun goddess sometimes conflated with Marici. Xihe, Sun goddess and mother of the ten suns Hou Yi, Archer God that shot down 9 Suns but left 1 sun up, to maintain balance. Xu Kai, god of the Sun star

Elamite Nahundi, god of the Sun and law

Filipino mythology

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with List of solar deities

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what List of solar deities claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to List of solar deities before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about List of solar deities ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of List of solar deities

In research: List of solar deities appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses List of solar deities in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: List of solar deities is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Lists of deities, Solar deities, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for List of solar deities outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study List of solar deities in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what List of solar deities means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain List of solar deities out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is List of solar deities in simple terms?

Why does List of solar deities matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study List of solar deities?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on List of solar deities.