Classical Egyptologists believe that the Egyptians practised a solar religion, centring on the worship of Ra. This cult of Ra, centred around Heliopolis, the City of the Sun, was no doubt important, but it seems as though it was an offshoot of a much more ancient stellar religion.All the evidence that is now coming to light suggests that Ra was merely one of the instruments by which the King returned to the First Time, rather than his goal.
"O Shining One (Ra)! O Shining One! O Khepera! O Khepera! You are for the King and the King is for you; you live for the King and the King lives for you." (Pyramid Texts Utterance 662) "Go aboard this boat of Ra to which the gods desire to draw near, aboard which the gods desire to go, in which Ra rows to the horizon....... Raise yourself, O my father Osiris the King, for you are alive!" (Pyramid Texts Utterance 667)The application of astronomy to the study of Ancient Egypt shows that the stars were of the utmost importance as the destination of the King:
"O Great One of Atum (another attribute of Khepera, the creator), son of a great one of Atum, the King is a Star in the sky among the gods." (Pyramid Texts Utterance 586A)"O King, you are this great star, the companion of Orion, who traverses the sky with Orion, who navigates the Duat with Osiris; you ascend from the East of the sky, being renewed at your due season......." (Pyramid Texts Utterance 466)
His sole aim in life was his successful return to the First Time, and the pyramids, far from being a memorial or commemorative tomb, were the starting point of this greatest of journeys. The geometry of the pyramids has been a source of confusion for many years, as was the seemingly imperfect way in which they were laid out on the Necropolis site.