Litany of Re
The Litany of the Sun
The sun god exists simultaneously in seventy-five distinct forms, and a dead king who can name and merge with all of them secures the most complete possible union with the sun's power.
- the sun god catalogued in seventy-five distinct forms
- the deceased king merged with successive gods and cosmic forces
- restricted to royal and rare elite burials
- a New Kingdom taste for multiplying divine aspects
A New Kingdom royal funerary composition, first attested in the tomb of Thutmose III, invoking the sun god Re in seventy-five separate manifestations before a second section in which the deceased king identifies himself, in turn, with major gods and cosmic forces. Reserved for kings and a small number of highly favored officials, it reflects a New Kingdom theological tendency to multiply and merge divine forms rather than settle on one, treating the sun's totality as something accessible only through an exhaustive list of its aspects.
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