Ra

Ra is an Egyptian major god who focuses on Camels and Chariots. He is the king of the Egyptian Gods.

Attributes

God Power

Name	Description
Rain	The player's Laborers farm 150% faster, other villagers farm 75% faster.

Technology

Name	Description
Skin of the Rhino	Laborers have 30% less hack/pierce vulnerability.

Bonuses

Laborers gather from Berry Bushes 25% faster.
Camel Rider, Chariot Archer, and War Elephant +15% hit points.
Pharaoh-empowered Monuments empower nearby buildings (70% efficiency of Pharaohs).
Priests can empower (70% efficiency of Pharaohs).

Minor Gods

Classical Age
Name	Focus
Bast	Villagers
Ptah	Technology

Heroic Age
Name	Focus
Sobek	Buildings
Sekhmet	Archers and siege weapons

Heroic Age
Name	Focus
Horus	Infantry
Osiris	Camels

Strengths

Ra's bonuses focus on improving the player's economy.

Ra's economic bonuses are substantial. The Pharaoh, a crucial figure in the Egyptian economy, empowers better than those of the other Egyptian Major Gods. In addition, Ra allows Priests to empower as well. This means that a player can have a Priest empowering several economic buildings, or speed up construction, training and technology research times. This gives an excellent economic boost to rapidly advance in age or quickly create an army to rush an enemy. Also, this makes it easier to relieve the Pharaoh of his duties, enabling him to perform other tasks such as collecting Relics or fighting. Monuments are cheaper than normal as well, allowing Favor to be accumulated earlier. Ra's god power also boosts the economy as it increases the gather rate for farmers. In combination with the Pharaoh's empowerment and Bast's Sacred Cats technology, this makes Laborers among the best farmers in the game.

On the military side, Ra has quicker and substantially stronger Camels and Chariot Archers. These are two of the most important Heroic Age units, which a Ra player can use as the backbone of their army.

Weaknesses

Although the Egyptians have poor scouting abilities, Ra's is the weakest in the game. The Obelisks his Priest construct do not have their cost reduced like Isis and he does not have access to Set's animals. Priests also cost a lot of Gold and use up two population so making the most of their empowering ability can be costly. The population space is better off saved for additional Laborers. Finally, the Rain God Power will also boost enemy farming rate (though at a lower percentage) and player's will have to choose carefully when to cast it.

Mythology

"As one of the earliest and most successful agricultural cultures on Earth, the ancient Egyptians gave their sun god, Ra, supremacy, recognizing the importance of sunlight in producing food. The Pharaohs of Egypt believed they were descendants of Ra.
The daily rise, overhead passage, and setting of Ra greatly impressed the Egyptians. At dawn, Ra was seen as a newborn child, issuing from the sky or a heavenly cow. By midday, Ra was thought of as a flying bird or sailing boat. At sunset, Ra was seen as an old man descending to the land of the dead. Overnight, Ra as a boat sailed eastward through the underworld in preparation for the next day's ascent. Along the way he had to battle or evade Apep, the great serpent of the underworld that sought to devour him. Part of the worship of Ra involved creating magic to aid or protect Ra in his nightly struggle with Apep, helping to assure the return of the sun.
Later in the ancient Egyptian period, Ra was diminished by being forced to reveal to Isis his name, thereby giving her access to some of his magical power. Despite the uplifting of other gods by some cults, however, worship of the sun remained paramount in ancient Egypt. Ra was often combined with other deities to enhance the prestige of the latter, as in Ra-Atum or Amun-Ra."
In-game compendium