milar, they are both hawk headed, they are both heavenly rather than earthly deities. But Ra is predominantly solar, seen by the solar disk on his head, whereas Horus originates as a representation of kingship and is a sky rather than sun god. Ra is also very ancient, the ensign to the right is from 2925-2700 BCE in the 2nd Dynasty. From the 4th Dynasty kings become known as sons of Ra. Ra and Horus become Re-Horakhty (Re is Horus of the Horizon).
However the main cult city of Ra (Heliopolis) is very close to the main cult city of the original Horus the Elder (Letopolis/Khem). Were they the same God? Perhaps the original northern Ra/Horus/Khenty-irty split in two when he was fused with the northern Horus/Nekhen leaving behind Ra of Heliopolis with the solar attributes of the original deity.
The Palette of Narmer (3100-3000 BCE)
The Palette of Narmer was found in 1898 in the "main deposit" of the temple of Horus in Hierakonpolis. Most likely a commerative work of art celebrating the victory of Narmer (Menes) of Upper Egypt over Lower Egypt. It is believed that Narmer is King Menes, the 'mythical' unifier of Upper and Lower Egypt.
On the rear of the palette Narmer wears the White Crown of Upper Egypt (he wears the Red Crown of Lower Egypt on the front). He holds a captive representing the defeated army. In the top right corner we see a glyph of the larger image; the Horus bird represents King Narmer perched over the papyrus plants representing Lower Egypt holding the head of his enemy. At the top of the palette we see two cows heads representing the Goddess Hathor.
Horus was the divine King, the King was Horus and one of his names (he had five) was known as his Horus name. Hathor was the protector of the King, her name means House of Horus.
Gold Head of Nekheny
A large ceremonial center was excavated out on the low desert near Hierakonpolis, which dates back to early Naqada II (Dynasty 0). Situated in the southern portion of the city enclosure of Nekhen stood the great temple to the city's falcon god, Nekheny or The Nekhenite. The temple itself covered approximately one-sixth of the total area and it would have dominated not only the temple complex, but the town itself. Some of the greatest finds to come from the Temple Complex were a cache of ceremonial items which included the palette of Narmer and a great golden head of a falcon (c2300 BCE, 6th Dynasty, Old Kingdom, the oldest (known) cult image in existence).
More info on the cities of Horus page.
Iry-Hor is the oldest ruler of Egypt (although he probably only ruled a region of Egypt) that is known by name, and who has some attributions to prove his existence. His name probably means "belonging to Horus", however the symbols were found only on some jars and not in a serekh, so it may not be his name but a sign that the items belonged to the royal treasury or similar. However either interpretation implies the association of Horus with kingship. Iry-Hor was buried in Abydos and ruled around 3100 BCE in the Pre-Dynastic period called Naqada II or Dynasty 0. Abydos was the cult center for Osiris, the God of the Dead. Early religious belief required that pharaohs be buried in Abydos in order to achieve the afterlife -- which accounts for the many pre-dynastic and old kingdom pharaohs buried in the necropolis here.
The Double Falcon
The god Antaios (Antwey/Nemty/Anty) is usually stated to be originally a double god, "the two falcons", that was later joined to create one, probably that of Horus. However I can find no proof of this gods existance. There are late pre-dynastic royal serekhs (Naqada III, Dynasty 0) found on jars from El-Beda and Tura showing a double falcon, this king is thus known as 'Double Falcon' although whether he is one individual is unknown.
Winged Sun Disk
The ivory comb on the right comes from the period of King Djet (3000 BCE) of the 1st Dynasty, buried in Tomb Z in Abydos. The square with the falcon on top and serpent is the traditional serekh containing his name, the Horus Cobra. The comb also shows the sun barc with wings very similar to the traditi