Sun Deities Throughout History

Celtic Goddess Sullis

Artefact;Gilt Bronze Head of  Sullis next to the Roman Baths that she was found

As a Brit, I can tell you that we eagerly await the summer months. Anything from the smell of freshly cut grass to the smell of sunscreen conjures nostalgic memories of summer barbecues and festivals despite us having to party in the rain due to our bad weather. But what makes us love the sun? Is it something to do with our ancestors?

As a Celt, let's start here.

The most notable Celtic deity is Sulis who was adored at the famous thermal spring in Bath  (in England for you reading from abroad). Sulis, we think is associated with light due to the epithets and connotations linked to her.

Although we don't know exactly how the spring was used before the Romans invaded, finds of Celtic coins indicate that the place was already visited and revered in the Pre-Roman Iron Age. Furthermore, votive altars and curse tablets found in the area suggest that Bath was named in antiquity after the goddess.  

Whilst I love Celtic history,  a lot of the things we learn about them are greatly informed by literary testimonies from Greek and Latin authors like Pliny, Tactitus and even Julius Caesar, who to get straight to the point had a bias. Another thing that complicates things is that the Gallo-Roman religion was a hybrid and very complicated mixture of Celtic and Roman-Mediterranean elements, and in our case,  once the Romans invaded , Sulis was now identified  with Roman goddess Minerva.

Sol Invicticus

Over in Rome, the deity of sun worship,  we have Sol who has had many representations throughout the history of the empire.  Like we spoke in the above paragraph Roman Gods personification of the sun came from a mixture of Greek influences and Eastern Solar Cults. However, whats interesting about Sol is how politicians used Gods to justify their power and Sol became Sol Invicticus. Lets  talk about the emperors who made Sol Invicticus one of the biggest dieties of the Roman Pantheon.

Problematic young emperor Elagabalus, known for their massacres at dinner parties, brought a new light to Sol, in which they tried to make Sol Invicticus the principle God of worship in the Empire. However Elagabalus is a really unpleasant character so let's talk about how the emperor Aurelian, an honourable emperor,  who turned the fates of Rome around when the empire was on its knees; and therefor championed Sol Invicticus. Sol Invicticus.

 Aurelian (not to be confused with emperor Aurelius who is considered a philosopher) was ruling an empire that was dying; nearly under collapse due to invaders, an economic depression and a plague. Aurelian in his 5 years as Emperor held off invaders, and lead him to the title ‘Restitutor Orbis"; restorer of the world. On the  25th December, on solstice 274AD, Aurelian dedicated a temple to Sol Invicticus, Aurelian was murdered one year later in 275AD however Aurelian’s promotion of Sol Invicticus can teach us how political leaders use deities to justify their rule.

A bust of Aurelian next to the Aurelian Wall, Rome

A bust of Aurelian, the Restitutor Orbis next to the Aurelian Wall in Rome

The Incas and Inti

 Lastly I want to talk about the Incas and their worship of Inti. The Sun God Inti, was prominent in every part of Inca life from worship at Machu Pichi to the Incas belief that their leader (The Sapa Inca) was  a direct descendent of Inti . They also believed that gold was the sweat of the sun. The Inca achieved a lot in the under 100 hundred years of rule, and had territory stretched around 2500 miles 

 In the last couple of sections I spoke how the Celts teaches us about how religions blended, and in Rome, how politicians use religion to validate their beliefs

However history took a turn; notably the Inca Civil War of 1529-1532, in which Spanish   conquistador brothers the Pizzaro's turned up, took advantage and staged a divided factions. 

Lets talk about the Ransom Room that ended the Inca empire.

When Francissco Pizzaro began the pillage of Peru, he took civil war winner Atahualpa  ransom and held him prisoner holding him in a room ‘El Cuarto del Rescate’ Located in modern day Cajamarca. Whilst Atahualpa offered the room to be filled with gold for his freedom, the Spanish took the gold and Atahualpa former ruler was still executed.

Artefact. The Inca ruin Moray with a Inca gold sun mask at the National Museum of Ecuador.

Artefact. The Inca ruin Moray with a Inca gold sun mask at the National Museum of Ecuador.

Whilst in Europe, the Renissance was seen as a time of mass innovation and joy, it came at cost in genocide and slaves and pillaging. The Spanish alone from their conquests in the New World stole 100 tonnes of gold and 25,000 tonnes of silver.

To conclude this piece, while our love for the sun as humans, the stories around past sunworship can tell us so much about past civilisations, from how they merged cultures, how their politicans championed Gods to how they were destroyed by invaders.