the reverence shown to animals at certain cult-centres did not mean that the creatures themselves were worshipped: what was important was what the animals represented. bull = power and regeneration cow = mother and ram = sexual power and fecundity. the ancient Egyptians seem to have regarded animals as possessing the archetypal qualities of their deities (e.g. The word Amen in Christianity is not derived from the Egyptian god. Several words derive from Amun via the Greek form, Ammon: ammonia and ammonite. This identification led to another merger of identities, with Amun becoming Amun-Ra.Ra-Herakhty had been a solar deity and this nature became ascribed to Amun-Ra as well, Īs the cult of Amun grew in importance, Amun became ide ntified with the chief deity who was worshipped in other areas during that period, Ra-Herakhty, the merged identities of Ra, and Horus. Indeed, due to the aged appearance of the Kush ram deity, the Egyptians came to believe that this image had been the original form of Amun and, that Kush was where he had been born. This Kush deity was depicted as ram-headed, more specifically a woolly ram with curved horns - so Amun became associated with the ram. When Egypt conquere d Kush, they identified the chief deity of the Kushites as Amun. The pharaohs of that new dynasty attributed all their successful enterprises to Amun and they lavished much of their wealth and captured spoil on the construction of temp les dedicated to Amun. The local patron deity of Thebes, Amun, therefore became nationally important. W hen the army of the founder of the Eighteenth dynasty expelled the Hyksos rulers from Egypt, the victor's city of origin, Thebes, became the most important city in Egypt, the capital of a new dynasty. The Amun crown can be adorned with horns, disks and uraei. The plumes were symbolic of the spirit of duality. It appears to associate the ruler with Amun and to legitimate his rule under the god's protection. With Osiris, Amun-Ra is the most widely recorded of the Egyptian gods.Īmun became depicted in human form, seated on a throne, wearing on his head a plain, deep circlet from which rise two straight parallel ostrich plumes, but His position as King of gods developed to the point of virtual monotheism where other gods became manifestations of him. IllustratedĮgyptian / Egyptian Revival Architecture - Table of ContentsĬlick on illustration for larger size Amen /AmunĪlso Illustrated Dictionary of Egyptian Architecture for the following entries: Birth HouseĪlternate spellings: Amen-Re/ Amen-Ra/ Amun-Re/ Amun-Ra/ Amon-Re/ Amon-RaĪmun did not physically engender the universe. Illustrated Dictionary of Egyptian MythologyĪrchitecture Around the World.
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