Tower of Ra

{{Short description|Landform in the Grand Canyon, Arizona}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}

{{Infobox mountain

| name = Tower of Ra

| photo = Tower of Ra.jpg

| photo_caption = South aspect, from Hermits Rest on South Rim

| label = Tower of Ra

| label_position= bottom

| elevation_ft = 6129

| elevation_ref = {{cite web |url = https://listsofjohn.com/peak/73508 |title = Tower of Ra – 6,129' AZ |website = Lists of John |access-date = December 23, 2020 }}

| prominence_ft = 709

| prominence_ref =

| isolation_mi = 0.97

| isolation_ref =

| parent_peak = Osiris Temple (6,613 ft)

| country = United States

| state = Arizona

| region = Coconino

| region_type = County

| part_type = Protected area | part = Grand Canyon National Park

| range = Kaibab Plateau
Colorado Plateau

| map = Arizona#USA

| map_size = 230

| map_caption = Location in Arizona

| coordinates = {{coord|36.1408150|N|112.2037831|W|type:mountain_region:US-AZ_scale:100000|format=dms|display=inline,title}}

| coordinates_ref = {{cite gnis |id=12655 |name=Tower of Ra |accessdate=2020-12-23}}

| topo = USGS Shiva Temple

| rock = sandstone, siltstone, mudstone

| first_ascent = 1977

| easiest_route = {{YDS|5.1}} climbing

}}

Tower of Ra is a {{convert|6,129|ft|meter|adj=mid|-elevation|abbr=off|sp=us}} pillar located in the Grand Canyon, in Coconino County of Arizona, US. Its summit is situated five miles north of Pima Point overlook on the canyon's South Rim, three miles southeast of Confucius Temple, and two miles northwest of Tower of Set, where it towers over {{convert|3,700|ft|m|abbr=off|sp=us}} above the Colorado River. Tower of Ra was named in 1879 by Thomas Moran, for Ra, the Egyptian deity of the sun.Gregory McNamee, Grand Canyon Place Names, 1997, Mountaineers Publisher, {{ISBN|9780898865332}}, page 110. This followed the naming convention of Clarence Dutton who began the tradition of naming geographical features in the Grand Canyon after mythological deities.Randy Moore and Kara Felicia Witt, The Grand Canyon: An Encyclopedia of Geography, History, and Culture, 2018, ABC-CLIO Publisher, page 151. This mountain's name was officially adopted in 1906 by the U.S. Board on Geographic Names. The first ascent was made in 1977 by Jim Haggart, Art Christiansen, and Barbara Zinn. According to the Köppen climate classification system, Tower of Ra is located in a cold semi-arid climate zone.{{cite journal| author = Peel, M. C. |author2=Finlayson, B. L. |author3=McMahon, T. A. | year = 2007 | title = Updated world map of the Köppen−Geiger climate classification | journal = Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. | volume = 11 | issn = 1027-5606}}