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| In
Ramesses’ day, Amun was by far the most powerful god
in Egypt, the god of kingship and king of the gods, but he
began his career as a somewhat obscure and relatively minor
deity. |
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| His
name first occurs in the Pyramid Texts of Dynasty V and he
figures in the Old Kingdom creation myth known as the Ogdoad
of Hermopolis as one of the eight deities, four male and four
female, that represent the abstract concepts out of which
the world was created. Amun means ‘the hidden one’
and, along with his female counterpart Amunet, was a deity
of the air or breath—the ‘breath of life’—but
otherwise little is known. This creative aspect remained a
part of his nature even as his identity changed over the centuries.
The goose was |
| sacred
to him because, in one version of the creation
myth, an egg was laid on the original mound of
creation by the celestial goose (‘the great
cackler’) out of which hatched the sun-god
Ra, the first of the gods. He is described as
Amun Kamutef (the ‘bull of his
mother’) who created himself by impregnating
his mother (and was thus his own father). |
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| Old
Kingdom relief of a goose |
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| Geese
in a west bank canal |
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| His
importance increased dramatically in the Middle Kingdom period
(roughly 2040-1782 BC) with the rise to power of a line of
rulers from the Upper Egyptian city of Thebes who reunited
the country after the chaos of the First Intermediate Period.
Thebes is the name that the Greeks gave to the town of Waset
(‘Sceptre’) the provincial capital of the nome
of the same name. Although the original god of Thebes was
probably the warrior-god Montu and several of the Eleventh
Dynasty pharaohs bore the name Mentuhotep (‘Montu is
content’). However, the last Mentuhotep was overthrown
by his vizier, Amenemhat, the founder of the Twelfth Dynasty.
As his name (‘Amun is at the Head’) suggests,
he was an adherent of Amun and henceforth the power of the
god increases dramatically while that of Montu begins to fade.
The earliest identifiable remains at the great cult centre
of Karnak, including the White Chapel, date to this period. |
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| White
Chapel of Senwosret I |
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| During
the Second Intermediate Period (1782-1570 BC) a native dynasty
managed to hang onto power in Thebes while the alien Hyksos
took over the Delta. In time they managed to throw the Hyksos
out of Egypt and establish themselves throughout the kingdom
as the Eighteenth Dynasty and found what is known today as
the New Kingdom (1570-1070 BC). It was Amun who led them to
victory over the Hyksos and their Nubian allies and drove
them out of Egypt. Under his leadership the Egyptians expanded
their empire southwards up the Nile and northwards into the
Levant. Huge amounts of plunder and tribute flowed into his
coffers and extensive estates were granted to him. His temples,
especially Karnak, were by far the wealthiest in the land.
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| By
this time he has acquired the attributes of a
fertility god and is closely identified with the
ithyphallic god Min. He was also closely associated
with the ram, which is noted for its belligerency
as well as its sexual potency, but Amun was never
depicted as a ram or as ram-headed— not
until the Late Period, at any rate, and then probably
because of Nubian influence. And, of course, the
processional ways leading to his temple at Karnak
were lined with ram-headed sphinxes. |
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Karnak.
Avenue of ram-headed sphinxes |
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Amun
bestowing the symbols of kingship on Ramesses
II with Mut in attendance.
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| He
is generally depicted wearing a cap surmounted by a pair of
tall plumes, probably the tail feathers of a hawk and symbolic
of his association with the air. His original partner, Amunet,
has largely disappeared from the scene |
| by
this time. Instead, the mother goddess Mut was
his consort and the moon god Khons their son.
Their temples were closely linked at Karnak and
their joint festival, the Beautiful Feast
of Opet, was by far the biggest show in town. |
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| Over
the course of New Kingdom period, temples were
built in his honour throughout the land, from
Nubia to the Delta—making him the first
truly national god. In many cases the local god
was displaced or reduced to the status of a dependent
with only a small shrine in the temple of his
lord and master. Some gods were too powerful to
displace but Amun’s priests often bore such
titles as ‘Chief Priest of Ptah’ or
‘Chief Priest of Ra,’ and claimed |
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| Karnak.
The Opet Festival |
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jurisdiction over their cults. His temple at Karnak was considered
the site of the Primeval Mound, where creation began. He was
the divine father of the king, replacing Ra in that role,
through intercourse with the ‘God’s Wife of Amun’—as
depicted at Deir el-Bahri and Luxor. |
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| Workmen
Piling up offerings at the Karnak Temple. Tomb of Neferronpet |
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| By
the reign of Amenhotep III, the estates of the god consisted
of huge tracts of the best farmland in all parts of the country
and were second only to those of the king. He had his own
fleet to transport their produce to his granaries and storehouses
at Karnak. Hundreds of craftsmen were employed in his workshops
to make furniture, ritual vessels, jewellery and all the other
paraphernalia needed for the cult. Apart from a brief reaction
known as the Amarna Revolution, Amun’s economic and
political power continued to rise throughout the New Kingdom
period but began to wane with the fortunes of the old capital
city during the Third Intermediate Period (1070-712 BC). The
country was once again divided and, although the Nubian rulers
who eventually took over Thebes revered Amun greatly they
were unable to reverse the decline. In the rest of Egypt the
cult of Osiris and Isis rapidly displaced that of Amun in
popularity and he eventually became a mere aspect of Horus.
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