The Sun in Context

The mythologies of many cultures have included a sun deity, usually a god but occasionally a goddess. Some myths reflect the sun’s vital role in

Throughout history, many different cultures had solar deities and myths about the sun. This head of the Mayan sun god was excavated in Chiapas, Mexico. WERNER FORMAN/ ART RESOURCE, NY.

Supporting life: solar deities are often creators who bring people into existence. Native Americans from the Pacific Coast, for example, tell how the sun god Kodoyanpe and the trickster Coyote together created the world and set about making people to live in it.

Solar deities have also been associated with fertility ofpeople and the earth. The Hittites of ancient Turkey worshiped Arinna, an important

Goddess of both the sun and fertility. In traditional myths from Uganda in Central Africa, the creator god Ruhanga, the sun god Kazooba, and the giver of life Rugaba are all the same deity.

In some mythologies, sun gods have healing powers. Shamash (pronounced shah-MAHSH), the solar god of the Babylonian people of the ancient Near East, was known as “the sun with healing in his wings.” Ancient Celtic peoples had Belenus (pronounced BEHL-eh-nuhs), the god of sunlight: besides driving away the predawn mists and fogs each day, Belenus could melt away disease from the sick. When the Romans conquered the Celts, they identified Belenus with their own sun god, Apollo (pronounced uh-POL-oh), who was also a god of healing.

As the most important and splendid deities of their pantheons, some solar deities have been associated with earthly rulers, the most powerful people in society. The Incas of Peru in South America regarded the sun god Inti (pronounced IN-tee), their chief deity, as the ancestor of the Inca royal family. According to Japanese tradition, the country’s imperial family is descended from Amaterasu, the sun goddess.