The meaning of Ra
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Etymology of the ancient Egyptian word Ra
Let me tell you that I am on the research for common origins of words that are similar -to a large extent- in pronunciation and meaning in different languages.
The study is being particularly in etymology and philology ,in relation to the word (Ra) the Sun god of the ancient Egypt.
Was brought to my attention that the chinese word (Ri) 日, which takes the same Egyptian hieroglyphic shape of a circle and a dot inside, means "sun" in Chinese too.
This picto - audio congruence between Egyptian(Ra) and chinese(Ri) pushed me to further research on the possible transfer of the use of this monosyllabic word - into other languages - with close meanings.
In the Filipino language, we can find that the word (Aarau) means "the sun" too.
Also, the English word (Ray), which means "a beam of light", is derived from the Latin (Rayon), very close to the meaning of "the sun".
So we can decide that the word ''ray'' is derived from ''Ra'' and then , all the Latin prefixes such as radio, radia, etc... are derived from latin: Rayon from Egyptian Ra ; ..(( my theory)).
Well, The sun indicated three main meanings: light, god, and the male power
By reference to the local dialects in southeastern Yemen, "my hometown dialects", the word (Ra' = رع ) is used to mean the verb " to see" ,they say: ra'ah (رعه) = look at him, see it
Similarly (in a southern yemeni dialect): Sha' شع = See (note that the word for "ray" in Arabic is "Shu'a شعاع ", derived from the Arabic verb asha' =أشع = to shine)
And I think that the verb Ra' in the sense of "to see" has a symbolic relationship to "the sun" and "the rays" .
one can not see anything without the presence of sunlight , or more accurately, the presence of a beam of light, ray!
the verb (Ra' = راع ) is still used in some other arabic dialects in the Arabian Peninsula
There are some tribes in Hail, Saudi Arabia,still use the word Ra' = راع = see
the Holy Quran -aged 1400 years- indicated that using the verb (Ra') is undesirable.
(O ye of Faith! Say not (to the Apostle) words of ambiguous import like Ra' ina =( See us), but words of respect like Unzurna= (Look at us); and hearken (to him) : To those without Faith is a grievous punishment) Sura 2:104.
and the verses:
(Of the Jews there are those who displace words from their (right) places, and say: "We hear and we disobey"; and "Hear what is not Heard"; and "Ra'ina"; with a twist of their tongues and a slander to Faith. If only they had said: "What hear and we obey"; and "Do hear"; and "Do look at us"; it would have been better for them, and more proper; but Allah hath cursed them for their Unbelief; and but few of them will believe) Sura 4:46
The Quran interpreters tried to figure out the reason why Allah has forbidden the believers to say the word Ra' .Some of the quran interpreters said : Ra' is a word Jews used to say out of ridicule and abuse, since the word Ra' in Hebrew indicates Evil, that is why God forbade the faithful to say that word to the Arabic Prophet Mohammed.
The word (Ra) has shades of meanings , something of puns, it carries the positive meaning of the verb "to See the light, to shine" .
At the same time it can have a negative meaning : "evil" .That is not only in Hebrew.
In Hadramawt -southern Arabia- dialect, the word Ra'ah راعه = death , destruction.
Now let us move to the famous ancient sacred symbol "the disc and crescent symbol" to check the possible relation with the word "Ra".
The disc and crescent symbol consists of 2 elements: a half circle and a full circle inside.
Let us try to read it in the Old Arabic Script "the ancient yemeni Script" (Musnad)..
In Musnad Script :
The Consonant (R) is a half circle,and the Consonant (A') is a circle.
doesn't it make any sense?
CommentsLoading...
thank you for answering
That was soo cool! so, what can someone do with this information?
Also, isn't that weird that the hebrew word for "RA" meant "evil"? Especially since the Jews had a big problem with not worshiping other gods. That is a very compelling read, but what kind of conclusions do you make from your research?
Thanks for your post! It occurred to me recently there could be some relation between the Egyptian Ra and the Chinese Ri, but did not find any further explanation. Do you think these civilizations could have some common language root, or they developed independently?
Thanks for your post! It occurred to me recently there could be some relation between the Egyptian Ra and the Chinese Ri, but did not find any further explanation. Do you think these civilizations could have some common language root, or they developed independently?









salhed 9 months ago
thank you thank you thank you
now the word of quran says (raina )is just drived out from the egyptian god ra and the islamic sympol is drived from the name
but as usual (maty)i will give you some hint
in iraki mythology there is one myth says that the cresent moon is refferd to the god sin (moon) and the star refferd to the venuse(inanna) according to the shapes this shape means evil (the darkness )while in egypt means the boot ra rise up the sun (the light the good) how we can solve this paradox