I. Name

Re (Rʿw, Akk. Riʿa, Heb. Raʿ) occurs as a theophoric element in Potiphera (פוטיפרע = PʒdjpʒRʿw, name of the father of Asenath Gen. 41.45), a short form of Potiphar (פוטיפר) the name of Joseph’s Egyptian employer, Gen. 37.36; Gen. 39.1) and Hophra (חפרע), Jer. 44.30 (ḥʿʿjbRʿw, Gk. Apries, name of Pharao WʒḥjbRʿw).

Re is the Egyptian god of creation, the sun and the state, for he symbolizes the cosmogonic energies and qualities that rule the universe and that find their terre…