The Creation Myths

Amun, Amon, Amen; Egyptian Imen meaning "the hidden one" - one of ancient Egypt´s most impportant deities appearing in many aspects; Primeval Creator God, Sun God, Fertility God, Universal God, Warrior God. First mentionings of Amun are found in the Pyramid Texts (5th Dynasty) where he is a primeval deity whose shadow protects the other gods. In Utterance 301; An adress to the primeval gods, §446 it says:

Amun began his rise to nationwide importance in the 11th Dynasty when kings at Waset (Thebes) took the name Amenemhet ('Amun is pre-eminent'). Here he soon overtook the local warrior god Montu and formed together with the godess Mut as his spouse and Khonsu as their son, the Triad of Waset.

Sources
Amun is well documented in numerous texts and iconography. Sun hymns and theological material are plenty and varied, giving good opportunity to research his nature, function and worship.

Concealed and Invisible like the wind

The ancient Egyptian name of Imen infers the meaning 'to conceal'. Some other names for him were 'He who abides in all things', 'Hidden of Aspect, 'Mysterious of Form' or the 'Ba of All Things'. The epiteth 'Asha Renu' which means 'rich in names' is perhaps the most telling one. According to the Theban priesthood, which made repeated efforts at describing him, Amun was too much of a mystery to be explained and in the Leiden Hymn we find references to Amun as being 'too great to inquire into and too powerful to know'. He existed behind all things and within all things, too vast and impossible to describe with one single name. By necessity all other gods were created by him and accordingly began existence later than him, accordingly they too were unaware of his true form. This made him into a unique deity which transcended all other gods as well as the whole universe.

His invisibility carries connotations with the wind, or breeze, which is his element in the Ogdoad of Hermopolis, and it is seen in depictions of him as a man seated on a throne and crowned with two tall plumes. Here his skin is blue like lapis lazuli, which was a highly treasured, semi-precious stone, he is wearing a short kilt and very often a bull´s tail attached to his waist. His crown with two tall plumes, signifies him as a sky deity.

Gengen Wer - Amun as the Primeval Goose

The Leiden Hymn also tells of another way Amun initiated creation, which associates with one of his sacred animals, the goose. Here he is called the 'Great Honker', who when giving a great screech, stirred the inert cosmos into action. This is also called the 'Gengen Wer', or the 'Great Cackler', by which is meant the creative energy in the form of a goose carrying the cosmic egg from which all life emerged. This myth indicated Amun as a creator god, while the association with the ram´s creative energy indicated him as a fertility god. As Amun-Min he was also shown in ityphallic form.

Amun and the Ogdoad
The Ogdoad consisted of eight personified primeval forces, conceived of as four couples of beings/forces/deities. For every 'male' deity there is the 'female' counterpart, to make up a whole, according to the Egyptian complementary way of thinking. The male ones are shown with frogs´ heads and the female ones with snakes´ heads, such forms are frequently said in ancient texts to inhabit the primeval waters.

The Ogdoad and their concepts:

There does not exist any other mythological context to explain these pairs of forces, and only Amun was to develop further. His spouse Amaunet was to be assimilated into Mut at Waset (Thebes).

The Theban Cosmogony
According to the Theban cosmology Amun is the superior creator deity, preceding even the deities of the Ogdoad. Amun thereby becomes 'he who fashioned himself' and Thebes (Waset) is therefore, just as other creation myth centers, the supreme location, which all other places could only poorly imitate.

Instead of being only one of the elemental forces like in the Ogdoad at Khmun (Hermopolis), at Waset (Thebes) Amun transcends creation and is elevated to be primeval creator god, being above, before and beyond creation. He is 'he who fashioned himself' before anything else came into existence, wether it was primeval forces or physical matter. According to the Theban cosmogoy, Amun was the creative burst of action that brought about the Ogdoad of the Hermopolitan cosmogony. So at the same time as Amun was a part of the Ogdoad, he was also the creator of it. Thereafter he created all other deities and all other matter.

The Theban theology was very close to designate Amun as a mnotheistic god but never ventured as far as excluding all other gods from their temples. Instead it was obvious that a deity can be expressed and shared in more than one form.

Amun-Kamutef - fertility god

Both the goose and the ram were sacred to him, and therefore never offered. But from the 12th Dynasty he was also shown in the form of a ram-headed man as 'Amun-Kamutef', 'Bull of his mother' often found in ityphallic form in ritual scenes at Karnak and Luxor. This epithet points at Amun being self-engendered on his bovine mother the cow goddess who symbolized both the sky and creation. It also shows the importance attached to the sexual energy of the bull which was a highly important symbol of strength and energy, especially for the king. Especially during the 18th Dynasty this form of Amun was associated with Min to become Amun-Min-ka-mutef.

Amun-Kem-Atef - primeval snake

The ancient form of Amun-Kem-Atef; ‘He Who has Completed His Moment’, should not be confused with the name of Amun-Ka-Mutef. It designates Amun as a primeval deity, predating the other gods of the Ogdoad and probably refers to the snake shedding his skin and beginning a new cycle of life. The temple at Karnak was said by the priesthood at Waset in the 18th Dynasty, to be the place of the 'Primeval Mound' where Amun created the beginning of the world, thus placing Waset as the prime city of all and the source of origin of the universe.

In an ancient text it is said that 'Three are all the gods: Amun, Re and Ptah, there is none like them. Hidden is his identity as Amun. He is visible as Re. His body is Ptah.' In his form of Ptah-Tatenen, is shown another aspect of the creator god; the one which personifies the fertile earth which rises from the Nile after inundation.

Amun-Re Nesw Netjerw; King of the Gods

In the 11th Dynasty, Amun was merged with the royal sun-cult of Re in Heliopolis, he was called 'Lord of the Thrones of the Two Lands of Upper and Lower Egypt'. His importance grew and at this time he was imported at Waset (Thebes) where he rapidly took precedence over Montu, the ancient local warrior god. An inscription at the White Chapel of Senwosret I at Karnak calls Amun 'king of the gods' for the first time. In the New Kingdom the Theban theology maintained that Amun created the Primeval Mound, and that all other deities were manifestations of Amun. Therefore he was also the sun-god; 'Amun when he rises as Harakhti'. References to him as Amun-Re are manifold. The symbol of the solar disc was added to his name, and he was called 'a fierce red-eyed lion'. Thereby Amun was linked to the Heliopolitan cosmogony, and he became enhanced to the status of 'King of the Gods' or 'Amun-Re Nesw Netjerw'. The title appears for the first time in Dyn. 12 when references to Amun in the Book of Going Forth By Day states that Amun is 'eldest of the gods in the eastern sky'. Reflecting Amun both as a primeval deity and as having a solar character, it was a conscious effort at making Amun the most important of all deities. Many kings added the name Mery-Amun (Beloved of Amun) to their royal titulary to link themselves to the kingship by Amun being the divine father of the ruler.

Amun Protector of the Humble

Though he was the High God, he also was a deity to whom the commoner could turn to in times of need. Papyrii tells of him protecting the rights of the poor in law courts and he is called the 'vizier of the humble' who 'comes at the voice of the poor'. There are also traces of Amun being 'Amun of the road', a protector of travellers. Amulets were worn after the Third Intermediate and his name occurs frequentlly in spells and charms for cure of eye ailments and as for protection against dagnerous animals like crocodiles and scorpions.

Amun at Waset; Karnak and Luxor

Karnak; 'Ipet-Isut', in ancient Egyptian: 'The Most Select of Places', consists of three main precincts for respectively Amun, Mut and Khonsu which together form the Triad of Karnak. These are all situated within the main precinct of Amun. Here is also the Opet temple and a small temple dedicated to Ptah to be found. To the north is the precinct of the temple of Montu, the earlier main god of Waset (Thebes) from the end of Dyn XI.

Luxor; 'Amun em Ipet Resyt', in ancient Egyptian: 'Amun Who Is In His Southern Sanctuary'. This temple lies 3 km south of Karnak, and was in ancient times situated in the center of Thebes (Waset), and dedicated to Amun-Re. He was here mainly represented in either the blue painted form or the black ityphallic form, and he was even 'visited' by Amun of Karnak once a year during the Beautiful Festival of Opet, the most important of Amun´s festivals. The temple was called the 'Place of Seclusion' or the 'Southern Opet'.

Amun in the Late period
There were temples built to Amun even south of the 1st cataract to celebrate him as a god of the Egyptian rulers and in this way extend the territory to enable safe transport ways to the gold of Kush. The cult of Amun developed such a strong foothold that when Egypt lost control to the Kushite rulers, these continued the worship and even caused an upsurge of it during the 25t Dynasty. His importance endured into the Greek and Roman days when several temples were dedicated to him and he was worshipped as Zeus-Ammon.