The Sun Boat is the vessel that Ra made his nightly journey through the Duat in.
History[]
In ancient times, Ra would make a nightly journey through the Duat on his sun boat, beginning and at sunset and ending at sunrise. After Ra decided to retire, the sun boat was left abandoned at its dock in the Duat and decayed over the following millennia.
The Kane Chronicles[]
The Throne of Fire[]
After the events at the Brooklyn Museum, Horus visits Carter Kane in a dream in an effort to talk Carter out of his plan to restore Ra. As part of this, Horus takes Carter for a ride on the sun boat to show him the journey that Ra would make each night and what Carter would have to face. Carter notices how old and broken down the sun boat looks before Horus brings it to Apophis' prison to show Carter that Apophis is breaking free. Horus then steers the boat away and allows Carter's ba to return to his body.
Later, while unconscious, Sadie's ba experiences a vision of Ra's retirement which takes place on the sun boat. After being cured of his poisoning, Ra rises with Bast into the heavens, leaving the sun boat behind. Elated at her victory, Isis dances around on the deck, failing to notice that the boat's servant lights disappear, the lines drop, the sails go slack, the oars trail in the water and the sun boat drifts down the river, unmanned,
In their quest to restore Ra, Carter and Sadie travel into the Duat at sunset on the spring equinox, the only time that Ra can be revived until six months later at the fall equinox and discover the decaying sun boat parked at the dock in bad shape. The two are confronted by Babi and Nekhbet, but Carter manages to scare them using Ra's Crook and Flail.
As the boat hasn't been able to renew itself for thousands of years, it is in terrible shape and Carter is forced to constantly bail out water while traveling through the first three Houses of the Night. The orb crew proves to be reluctant to help due to Sadie's connection to Isis, the one who had forced Ra to retire in the first place, but they eventually get the crew to cooperate. The boat eventually reaches Khnum who Sadie absorbs into the Book of Ra by speaking his secret name. The boat reaches the Lake of Fire in the Fourth House and Sadie realizes that it must travel through the lake in order to be renewed. With Sadie created a fire shield for herself and her brother, the two are able to survive the journey through the Lake of Fire and the sun boat is renewed back to its original state. The Kanes then locate the senile Ra at Sunny Acres in the Fourth House, but run out of time to make it through the rest, forcing them to play a game of senet with Khonsu for more time. Eventually, the boat takes them to Apophis' cavern where Vladimir Menshikov is working to release the Chaos serpent who is held back only by the power of Khepri. After Michel Desjardins execrates Apophis, the Kanes, Ra and the dying Desjardins escape on the sun boat.
At sunrise, the boat emerges from the Duat in Brooklyn and lands at Brooklyn House. Following the Battle of Brooklyn House, Ra rises back into the heavens on the sun boat accompanied by Bast who steers the boat to the throne room of the gods. When Bast returns to Brooklyn House, she informs the Kanes that the gods are getting a fresh crew ready for that night's journey, explaining that they have restarted the ancient cycle and Ra will spend his days in the heavens and his nights on the river. As a result, the gods will need to protect him once again as they used to.
The Serpent's Shadow[]
The senile Ra continues his nightly journey on the sun boat. After the Kanes and Zia Rashid retrieve Apophis' sheut, Bes drives them to the edge of the Land of Demons where they are picked up by Ra as he journeys through the Duat, protected by Sobek. Bes notes that the timing was lucky as they would've been stuck in the Duat if they had missed the sun boat. Taking Zia as his host, Ra is finally reborn and the boat delivers them back to the mortal world over the First Nome where Bast is single-handedly battling Apophis. Ra sends Carter to rally the other magicians and gods while he and Sobek holds off Apophis. Carter and Sadie then depart in their animal forms to help their friends out against the Rebel Magicians.
After Ra departs the sun boat, it rises back into the heavens. It is parked in the throne room of the gods when Carter arrives to call them into battle against Apophis.