Solar Ships and Funerary Boats
Mythology
The god Re reigned supreme over the earth but the human beings revolted against him. In anger he sent the goddess Hathor to destroy them, but then changed his mind. He abandoned the earth and mounted on the heavenly cow, ascended into the sky in order to reign over them in the form of the sun. He had two ships to complete his daily journey, one for the day, the manedjet (manD.t), and another for the night, the mesektet (msk.t.t) [4]. In the west lay the gloomy Realm of the Dead, to which he brought some light and joy in the evenings.
The sungod's daily journey
At the first hour of the day the sun sets out on its daily journey over Egypt with Re at the helm. Under the ship swims a serpent, a creature venerated by the Egyptians.
http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/timelines/topics/solarships.htm
