Sun worship

Ancient practice of paying homage to the Sun for its power over life and death. The megalithic religions seem to have centred upon the Sun, which was worshipped throughout the Middle East. In the 14th century BC the radical Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaton made the Sun god Aton the sole god of the universe in his theology, possibly the first instance of monotheism. In Hinduism, worship of Sūrya, the Sun god, is an established tradition.

The Sun was a central feature of the religions of Central American peoples such as the Maya. The Sun god was worshipped in Greece as Apollo, and under other names in Peru, North America, and northern Europe. According to ancient tradition, the Japanese imperial family traces its descent from the Sun goddess Amaterasu Omikami.

Akhenaton was originally known as Amenophis IV; when he introduced the worship of Aton, superseding the earlier worship of the sun god Ra (who was later combined with the god of Thebes, Amun-Ra) he renamed himself Akhenaton and built a city in the desert in Aton's honour. After his death Egypt returned to the old religion and the city was destroyed.

When the Roman emperor Constantine converted to Christianity AD 313, he changed from being a worshipper of the Sun god Sol Victus, and he made Sunday, the Sun's day, the legal day of worship for Christians.