| “ | The LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: I will punish Amon, the god of Thebes, and all the other gods of Egypt. I will punish its rulers and Pharaoh, too, and all who trust in him. | „ |
| ~ Jeremiah 46:25 |
| “ | The tempest moves aside for the sailor who remembers the name of Amon. The storm becomes a sweet breeze for he who invokes His name... Amon is more effective than millions for he who places Him in his heart. Thanks to Him the single man becomes stronger than a crowd. | „ |
| ~ Leiden Hymn to Amun. |
Amun, also known as Amon, Amoun, Amen, Amoon, or Ammon, known as The Invisible One, was a major deity of ancient Egypt. He was worshipped as a sun and creator deity, notably in the city of Thebes. He is the consort of the goddess Mut.
Appearance[]
He is often represented as bearded man wearing a cap surmounted by two tall plumes made of red ostrich feathers usually seated on a throne holding the ankh on one hand and the was scepter on the other.
History[]
Background[]
Amun is the terrestrial "hidden" avatar of the sun god Ra, the supreme ruler of the Egyptian gods. Amun was considered no more powerful or significant than the other gods who were part of the Ogdoad but represented the element of "hiddenness" or "obscurity". Ra would assume the form of Amun, or Amun-Ra, after he was deemed unfit to rule due to growing senile. Moreover, he did this so as to watch over his children and the other gods from the shadows, making sure that they do not disrupt the natural order and maintain order throughout the universe.
In his role as Amun-Ra, the god combines his invisible aspect (symbolized by the wind which one cannot see but is aware of) and his visible aspect as the life-giving sun. In Amun, the most important aspects of both Ra and Atum were combined to establish an all-encompassing deity whose aspects were literally every facet of creation.
Worship of Aten[]
During the latter part of the eighteenth dynasty, the pharaoh Akhenaten disliked the power of the temple of Amun and advanced the worship of the Aten, a deity whose power was manifested in the sun disk, both literally and symbolically. He defaced the symbols of many of the old deities, and based his religious practices upon the deity, the Aten. He moved his capital away from Thebes, but this abrupt change was very unpopular with the priests of Amun, who now found themselves without any of their former power. The religion of Egypt was inexorably tied to the leadership of the country, the pharaoh being the leader of both.
When Akhenaten died, the priests of Amun-Ra reasserted themselves. Akhenaten's name was struck from Egyptian records, all of his religious and governmental changes were undone, and the capital was returned to Thebes. The return to the previous capital and its patron deity was accomplished so swiftly that it seemed this almost monotheistic cult and its governmental reforms had never existed. Worship of Aten ceased and worship of Amun-Ra was restored. The priests of Amun even persuaded his young son, Tutankhaten, whose name meant "the living image of Aten"—and who later would become pharaoh—to change his name to Tutankhamun, "the living image of Amun".
