What myths are associated with the god Amon Ra. What does Amon-ra look like? Veneration and exaltation of the supreme deity

- (ìmn, lit. “hidden”, “secret”), in Egyptian mythology the god of the sun. The center of the cult of A. Thebes, of which he was considered the patron. Sacred animal A. ram. Usually A. was depicted as a man (sometimes with the head of a ram) wearing a crown with two high... Encyclopedia of Mythology

- (Ammon) (reliable, faithful (see Amen)): 1) the mayor of Samaria during the time of Ahab (1 Kings 22:26; 2 Chronicles 18:25); 2) son and heir of Judas. King Manasseh (641-640 BC). He ascended the throne at the age of 22 and reigned for only 2 years, continuing... ... Brockhaus Biblical Encyclopedia

IN ancient egyptian mythology the patron god of Thebes, gradually began to be identified with the supreme god Ra (Amon Ra) ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

Ancient Egyptian god of fertility, originally local (in Thebes); later the god of light, likened to the sun god Re (or Ra) and equally revered. Hence A. = Re. Over time, A. became the main god of Egypt. The cult of A. “king of the gods” flourished in... ... Literary encyclopedia

Ra Dictionary of Russian synonyms. amon noun, number of synonyms: 2 god (375) ra (4) ... Synonym dictionary

amonite- 1st name of the human family Vikopny mollusk amonite 2nd name of the human family Vibukhova rechovina…

AMON, in Egyptian mythology, the sun god, patron of the city of Thebes. Worshiped in the form of a ram... Modern encyclopedia

- (m) hidden Egyptian names. Dictionary of meanings... Dictionary of personal names

The biblical name of the Egyptian main deity Osiris and the city of Thebes dedicated to his cult (Ifp. XLVI, 25; Avak. III, 8). Philologists try to find the root of this name in the Egyptian language and hieroglyphs and find various meanings for it, but... ... Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron

amoniak- amoniak (barren-free gas with a pungent odor), smoridet, amia[i]k... Dictionary of synonyms of Ukrainian language

amoniac- the name of the human family... Spelling dictionary of Ukrainian language

Books

• Board game "Amon-Ra" (8977) , . Pharaohs live and disappear in the boundless Nile, which bestows its blessings on farmers, and only the pyramids are eternal. Every ruler wants to go down in history and invests money in the most successful...
• Song of Great Love Warrior of Light Salome Amon-Ra set of 3 books, Amonashvili Sh.. Book 1. Song of Great Love. Amon-Ra. The legend of the stone.. The atmosphere of the book by the famous scientist, teacher, writer, academician Sh. A. Amonashvili is distinguished by its extraordinary sublimity,…

Amon is the hidden god of heaven in Egyptian mythology. The ram and goose (symbols of wisdom) are sacred animals of Amun. Since the Middle Kingdom, he has been depicted in an anthropomorphic form and with shuti feathers on his headdress, borrowed from the god of fertility Min (Koptos). Amun is originally the local god of Thebes. In addition to this local cult, Amun was also considered one of the hidden deities of the Hermopolitan Ogdoad, paired with his female hypostasis (Amaunet). Mythological elaboration of the image of Amun is scarce. It was believed that his wife was Mut, although in earlier sources Useret appeared in this capacity (as for Amaunet, she was only the female incarnation of Amon and did not have her own image). The son of Amun and Mut was the moon god Khonsu. Amun, Mut and Khonsu together made up the Theban Triad. Due to his connection with Ming, the epithet "Kamutef" was attached to him.

The reign of the 18th dynasty was marked by the construction of grandiose temples to Amun at Karnak and Luxor, which reached special heights under Hatshepsut, Amenhotep III and Ramesses II.

After the failure of Pharaoh Akhenaten’s attempt to ban the veneration of Amun and introduce in its place the cult of Aten, close to monotheism, his successors, Aye and Horemheb, restored the cults of ancient deities led by Amon-Ra. As a result, the position of the Theban priests only strengthened, which led to the actual establishment of a theocracy under the last Ramessides (XX Dynasty) and the accession to the throne of Herihor, the high priest of Amun.

Amon in Kush

As a result of the Egyptian conquest of Nubia (Kush), the supreme deity of the Kushites was finally identified with Amun during the 18th Dynasty. As a result, by the 1st millennium BC. e. the cult of Amun in these former southern possessions of Egypt became even more centralized than in Upper Egypt itself, where Isis and Horus became very popular. The holy city of Amun in Nubia became its first capital, Napata.

Received its name from a shepherd who erected a temple in Libya. According to another story, Dionysus in India (that is, Ethiopia) was looking for water and did not find it, a ram came out of the sand and showed water. Then Dionysus asked Zeus to include the ram among the constellations. Where water was found, Dionysus built the temple of Zeus Amun

The oracle of Amon said that Andromeda should be given to the monster to be devoured.

It is known that the oracle of Amon, located in the oasis of Siwa in the Libyan desert, was visited by Alexander the Great, who recaptured Egypt from the Persians; the oracle called Alexander the son of “Zeus-Ammon,” which gave him confidence in his own divinity.

Rationalist interpretation

Eponyms

Some terms (eponyms) in modern languages come from the name of Amon, which came through Greek language in the form of "Ammon".

In particular, it is the name of the extinct cephalopod ammonites, the spiral shape of whose shells resembles the ram's horns with which this god was sometimes depicted.

Another example is ammonia, whose name is derived from the Latin expression sal ammoniacus(“salt of Amon”), since ammonium chloride could be obtained near the temple of Amun in the Libyan oasis of Siwa. In hot climates, urea (NH 2) 2 CO, contained in the waste products of animals (in particular, caravan camels passing through the oasis, which was an important crossing of trade routes), decomposes especially quickly. One of the decomposition products is ammonia. According to other sources, ammonia got its name from the ancient Egyptian word denoting people who worshiped the god Amun. During their rituals, they sniffed ammonia NH 4 Cl, which, when heated, evaporates ammonia.

Pierre got out of the carriage and, past the working militia, ascended the mound from which, as the doctor told him, the battlefield could be seen.
It was about eleven o'clock in the morning. The sun stood somewhat to the left and behind Pierre and brightly illuminated through the clean, rare air the huge panorama that opened up before him like an amphitheater across the rising terrain.
Up and to the left along this amphitheater, cutting it, wound the great Smolensk road, passing through a village with a white church, which lay five hundred steps in front of the mound and below it (this was Borodino). The road crossed under the village across a bridge and, through ups and downs, wound higher and higher to the village of Valuev, visible six miles away (Napoleon was now standing there). Beyond Valuev, the road disappeared into a yellowing forest on the horizon. In this birch and spruce forest, to the right of the direction of the road, the distant cross and bell tower of the Kolotsk Monastery glittered in the sun. All along this blue distance, to the right and left of the forest and the road, in different places one could see smoking fires and indefinite masses of our and enemy’s troops. To the right, along the flow of the Kolocha and Moskva rivers, the area was gorged and mountainous. Between their gorges the villages of Bezzubovo and Zakharyino could be seen in the distance. To the left, the terrain was more level, there were fields with grain, and one smoking, burnt village could be seen - Semenovskaya.
Everything that Pierre saw to the right and to the left was so vague that neither the left nor the right side of the field completely satisfied his idea. Everywhere there was not the battle that he expected to see, but fields, clearings, troops, forests, smoke from fires, villages, mounds, streams; and no matter how much Pierre tried, he could not find a position in this lively area and could not even distinguish your troops from the enemy.
“We need to ask someone who knows,” he thought and turned to the officer, who was looking with curiosity at his huge non-military figure.
“Let me ask,” Pierre turned to the officer, “what village is ahead?”
- Burdino or what? - said the officer, turning to his comrade with a question.
“Borodino,” the other answered, correcting him.
The officer, apparently pleased with the opportunity to talk, moved towards Pierre.
- Are ours there? asked Pierre.
“Yes, and the French are further away,” said the officer. - There they are, visible.
- Where? Where? asked Pierre.
- You can see it with the naked eye. Yes, here you go! “The officer pointed to the smoke visible to the left across the river, and his face showed that stern and serious expression that Pierre had seen on many faces he met.
- Oh, these are the French! And there?.. - Pierre pointed to the left at the mound, near which troops could be seen.
- These are ours.
- Oh, ours! And there?.. - Pierre pointed to another distant mound with a large tree, near a village visible in the gorge, where fires were also smoking and something was black.
“It’s him again,” said the officer. (This was the Shevardinsky redoubt.) - Yesterday it was ours, and now it’s his.
– So what is our position?
- Position? - said the officer with a smile of pleasure. “I can tell you this clearly, because I built almost all of our fortifications.” You see, our center is in Borodino, right here. “He pointed to a village with a white church in front. - There is a crossing over Kolocha. Here, you see, where the rows of mown hay still lie in the low place, here is the bridge. This is our center. Our right flank is here (he pointed sharply to the right, far into the gorge), there is the Moscow River, and there we built three very strong redoubts. Left flank... - and then the officer stopped. - You see, it’s difficult to explain to you... Yesterday our left flank was right there, in Shevardin, you see, where the oak is; and now we have carried the left wing back, now there, there - see the village and the smoke? “This is Semenovskoye, right here,” he pointed to the Raevsky mound. “But it’s unlikely there will be a battle here.” That he transferred troops here is a deception; he will probably go around to the right of Moscow. Well, no matter where it is, many will be missing tomorrow! - said the officer.
The old non-commissioned officer, who approached the officer during his story, silently awaited the end of his superior’s speech; but at this point he, obviously dissatisfied with the officer’s words, interrupted him.
“You have to go for the tours,” he said sternly.
The officer seemed embarrassed, as if he realized that he could think about how many people would be missing tomorrow, but he shouldn’t talk about it.
“Well, yes, send the third company again,” the officer said hastily.
- Who are you, not a doctor?
“No, I am,” answered Pierre. And Pierre went downhill again past the militia.
- Oh, damned ones! - said the officer following him, holding his nose and running past the workers.
“There they are!.. They’re carrying, they’re coming... There they are... they’re coming in now...” suddenly voices were heard, and officers, soldiers and militiamen ran forward along the road.
A church procession rose from under the mountain from Borodino. Ahead of everyone, infantry marched orderly along the dusty road with their shakos removed and guns lowered downwards. Church singing could be heard behind the infantry.

Amon- Sun God. His name means “hidden”, “hidden”. The cult of Amun originated in Thebes and later spread throughout Egypt. The ram was revered as Amun’s sacred animal; sometimes the god was depicted as a man with a ram’s head. Amon was also perceived as one of the incarnations of the triune solar deity Khepri-Amon-Ra.

The myth of Amun combined previously existing versions of the creation myth. It tells that in the beginning the god Amon began to exist in the form of a serpent. He created eight great gods who gave birth to Ra, Atum and Ptah. in different regions of Egypt, revered as the creators of the world.

Amun is a god in ancient Egyptian mythology. Later becomes the king of the gods. Its symbols are symbols of wisdom - the goose and the ram (these are sacred animals). Very often Amon was depicted as a man with a ram's head in a crown and with a scepter in his hand, as well as with the sun and large feathers.

Initially, Amun was just a local god of the city of Thebes; he was revered there as a heavenly deity. Also, paired with Amaunet, he was considered one of the gods of the Great Eight of Hermopolis - the Ogdoad, where he was the embodiment of wind and air. Mut was considered the wife of Amon, but in early sources she was called Uasret. And Amaunet is only its female incarnation. Amun, Mut and the moon god Khonsu (son of Mut and Amun) - Theban triad.

However, in the First Intermediate Period, the name of Amun was already mentioned as the name of the supreme god and demiurge. High priestesses, and later only women royal blood, began to bear the title “Wife of the God Amun.” During the Middle Kingdom, the god Amon became increasingly popular and during the 18th Theban dynasty of pharaohs he became the main god of Egypt. According to syncretism, he is identified with the sun god Ra in the image of the dominant god Amun-Ra.

Under the New Kingdom, the priests of the god Amun concentrated enormous wealth and influence in their hands. So, thanks to the oracle of Amon, the female pharaoh Hatshepsut was elevated to the throne, and in this main role played by the priesthood of the god Amun in the person of Hapuseneb, the high priest. During the reign of the 18th Theban dynasty, grandiose temples to the god Amun were built in Karnak and Luxor.

All attempts of Pharaoh Akhenaten to introduce the cult of Aten, banning the veneration of Amun, failed. Thus, the position of the priests of the great god only strengthened, a de facto theocracy was established under the Ramessides (XXI Dynasty), and the high priest of Amon-Ra Herihor ascended the throne.

Amon in Kush

After Egypt conquered Nubia (Kush), the Kushite supreme deity was finally identified with Amon during the 18th Dynasty. Thus, by the first century BC, the cult of Amon became more widespread in the southern possessions of Egypt than in Upper Egypt. There at this time the Chorus and Isis are gaining increasing influence. The first capital of Nubia, Napata, becomes the sacred city of Amun.

When the ruler of Nubia, Kashta, obtained from the paternal sister of Pharaoh Takelot III Shepenulet I, the former high priestess (“Wife of God”), recognition of his daughter Amenirdis I as his heir, this meant the establishment of Nubia’s control over Egypt. The pharaohs of the XXV dynasty demonstrated their respect for Amun in every possible way. After they are expelled from Thebes, the center of the cult of Amun also moves. The cult of Amun also begins to spread in the theocratic states of Meroe and Nobatia. His oracle plays a key role in many political decisions.

Most likely in Nubia this god was identified with a ram. They began to depict him in human form with the head of a ram, although previously he was a completely anthropomorphic deity - a man wearing a long crown.

Amun in ancient literature

According to Herodotus, Amun is the Zeus of the Egyptians. In his hymn to Amun, Pindar calls him "Lord of Olympus." He also donated a statue of the deity by Kalamis to the temple, which was erected in honor of Amun in Thebes. The animal that symbolizes it is the ram. In particular, Amon of Libya was always depicted with steep horns. He is also called the Sun God. Also mentioned by Euripides.

Named after the shepherd who built the temple in Libya. According to another legend, Dionysus in Ethiopia (now India) searched for water for a long time and could not find it. And then a ram came out of the sand and showed him the water. Then Dionysus turned to Zeus with a request to include the ram among the constellations. And at the place where the water was shown to him, Dionysus erected the temple of Amun-Zeus.

It was Amon’s oracle that convinced him that Andromeda should be given to the monster to be devoured.

It is known that Alexander the Great, who conquered Egypt from the Persians, visited the oracle of Amun in the oasis of Siwa, in the Libyan desert. He declared Alexander the son of "Zeus-Amon". This gave Alexander the Great confidence in his divinity.

According to the rationalist interpretation, Amun is the king of ancient Egypt, not a god. The historian Leontes claimed that Dionysus, during his reign over Egypt, gave Amon land against Thebes because he, having arrived from Africa, brought cattle to the ruler. That is why sculptors depict horns on the head of Amun.

Or let's take another example - ammonia. IN Latin it sounds like sal ammoniacus (“salt of Amon”). It was named so because ammonium chloride was mined in the Libyan oasis of Siwa near the Temple of Amun. In desert climates, (NH2)2CO, urea, which is contained in the waste products of caravan camels, as well as other animals that passed through that oasis, because it was the intersection of many trade routes, decomposes very quickly. And ammonia is one of the products of this decomposition.

Although in other sources you can read that ammonia got its name from the ancient Egyptian word in honor of the people who worshiped Amon. During their ritual rites, they sniffed ammonia NH4Cl, which vaporizes ammonia when heated. Modern languages ​​have terms derived from the name Amun, in the Greek form "Ammon". For example, the name of the already extinct cephalopod ammonites, whose shell with its spiral shape is similar to ram's horns. This deity was sometimes depicted with such horns.

Since the throne of Ancient Egypt was usually occupied by rulers originally from Thebes, the local god Amun eventually found himself at the head of the Egyptian pantheon, becoming the god of all gods.

We are in the era of the new kingdom (around 1500 BC). The priests of Amon become more and more powerful, and the cult elevates him above the other gods of Ancient Egypt. Even the great Ra finds himself in the shadow of Amon. As a result of the battle between these two giants of the pantheon, the god of “compromise” appears: Amon-Ra. Amon is the creator god and therefore the god of fertility. The universality of the cult of Amon made him “lord of the thrones of the Two Lands” (Upper and Lower Egypt).

Amon was considered the god of all gods, since he is “the one who abides” in everything. This is how his name is deciphered, formed from the verb “men” with the meaning “to remain, to last.” He was often revered as an invisible entity, identified with air and sky. In this case, he was also the father of the gods. Likened to air, Amon became ba (breath of life), especially since the ram, one of his sacred animals, was called ba in ancient Egypt!

Since Amon is air, the primary element of the world, he found himself at the top of the hierarchy of the pantheon, above the other gods.

Images of Amon

Amon has always been depicted in human form. He sits on a throne or stands, and on his head he wears a crown with two high feathers. The blue or light blue color of his skin indicates his connection with the sky (Amon was originally revered as a heavenly deity in Thebes). The color blue also means that he is the god of abstract concepts, invisible and yet omnipresent. One of the best images of Amun is a golden figurine kept in New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Myths about Amon

Amon owes his fame to the pharaohs, thanks to whom his cult flourished and myths about him appeared. Having the support of the authorities and powerful clergy, God took a place in the pantheon, displacing other creators of the world or identifying with them. So Amon became the god of the Egyptian gods.

Making his way to the top, he found himself in one way or another connected with many other deities of Ancient Egypt. This contributed to the complexity of the myth about him.

Demiurge Amon

Amon is a demiurge. This means that he was born from emptiness, from nothingness. Thus, by likening the god Ra himself, the first of all beings, to Amon, all of Egypt recognized that the Lord (as Amon is often called) in an incomprehensible way created himself from the eternal watery chaos and launched the mechanisms of the universe. He did this with the help of four elements: earth, air, fire and moisture, which he himself created. These elements were directly involved in creation.

Amon's family

Since Amon is a demiurge god, he cannot have either a father or a mother. But many wives and children are attributed to him, depending on the cities and places of worship. In Thebes, the main place of worship for Amun, the clergy of the local temples gave him the goddess Mut as his wife (who in the same city was also considered his mother and daughter!). This goddess was the embodiment of femininity, and therefore the Egyptians especially revered her. From this marriage a son was born, the lunar god Khonsu, who terrifies and at the same time heals people. Amun's privileged position in the pantheon determined his relationships with other gods. They were so closely and intricately intertwined that as a result, Amun began to be increasingly identified with other deities with similar features.

When Amun eclipses the god Ra!

“This highly revered god, the lord of all gods, Amon-Ra... the first of the primordial ones, who gave birth to the primordial gods, from whom all gods appeared, the one of one, who created all things, the one who gave rise to the universe... in the form in which everything that is appeared, the first one who came into the world when there was nothing but him, the one who illuminates the earth from the first day, the huge disk with shining rays, crossing the heavens tirelessly, morning after morning, the one whose essence is constant , an old man who becomes a child in the morning at sunrise... savior for all times, king of the South and North, Amon-Ra, king of the gods, lord of heaven, earth, waters and mountains" (hymn to Amon).

Amon and syncretism

As the cult of Amun spread, he naturally became like other gods, “absorbing” them into himself. He was likened to Min, who was also a male fertility deity. It is worth noting that this god wears the same feathered headdress as Amun. Both gods are responsible for procreation, this became the reason for the emergence of a single syncretic deity - Amon-Min.

But the most important connection was between Amun and Ra, two of the greatest gods of the Egyptian pantheon. Thus, in the New Kingdom, Amon-Ra was born, an omnipotent god who shone over all of Egypt. Amon of Thebes received creative power from his famous divine counterpart from Heliopolis, Ra. This is one of the most striking examples of a typically Egyptian phenomenon - syncretism! Its essence is the unification and fusion of various beliefs and religious doctrines. IN Ancient Egypt syncretism reached unprecedented proportions. Thus, when speaking of Amon, the Egyptians meant many other gods. Ptah, a god who was especially revered in Memphis, was identified with Amun. Amon was omnipresent or almost omnipresent. But let's be fair to him! The struggle for influence began not with God, but with his clergy. It was a kind of religious hegemony. It is more characteristic of people than of gods, and in the case of Amon it entailed serious political consequences.

From Thebes to Tanis

The cult of Amon was especially zealous in the city of Tanis, which became the capital of Egypt under the pharaohs of the XXI-XXI dynasty. But having subjugated other gods throughout the country, Amon was not content with this, he became the cause of real destruction in former capital Ramses II, Pi-Ramses. In order to erect temples dedicated to Amun and Mut, the rulers of the XXI and XXII dynasties without hesitation ordered the demolition of the previous buildings. Walls, columns and doors were used in the construction of the new city. As for the colossi, obelisks and naos, some of them were transported, and the rest, crushed and cut into blocks, became building materials... And all this in the name of Amun! Black ingratitude to Ramses, who was once called “beloved of Amun”!

Cult of Amon

The cult of Amon is present throughout. Magnificent festivals are dedicated to this god, and he is worshiped in majestic temples. The history of the cult of Amon is also the history of a fierce struggle for influence that the priests of the god waged with the servants of other cults.

When the rulers of Thebes, the city of Amun, became pharaohs of all Egypt, the power of this god and his priests increased and the lands of the clergy expanded.

Holidays of Amon

Holidays in honor of Amun are among the most beautiful and solemn in Ancient Egypt. Two of them especially stand out. The first is the holiday of Opet. It is celebrated in the second and third months of the Nile floods. The statue of Amun, like the statues of other deities, is special occasions leaves the sanctuary of Karnak, where she is kept the rest of the time, away from human sight. Therefore, it is the greatest joy for mere mortals to see God come out. During this festival, the statue of Amon will go to visit Luxor and spend several weeks here. The priest-servants of the temple carry out the statue in a huge boat.

In ancient Egypt, statues of gods travel a lot, and Amon is no exception. In the tenth month of the year, the statue leaves the temple again, this time on the occasion of the “beautiful festival of the Valley.” According to tradition, she will be transported across the Nile to the other side. The procession will pass through villages, necropolises and, most importantly, through the mortuary temples of the pharaohs. Of course, many other holidays are celebrated under the auspices of Amon.

The Power of the Clergy of Amon

The first Ramesses (I-III) worshiped Amun with great zeal.

Moreover, these pharaohs had unprecedented political power, both within the country and abroad. The subsequent Ramesses (IV-XI), on the contrary, were unable to preserve Egypt as the great power that it had always been: high prices, poverty, and enemy invasions led the kingdom into decline. However, the priests of Amon became more and more influential, posing a threat to the power of the pharaohs, of which only one name remained. The appearance of priests, in whose hands were not only religion, but also military affairs, completed the revolution. The power and wealth of Amun, or rather his faithful servants, ultimately defeated the pharaoh. The clergy increasingly intervened in political life and government affairs. Nothing was ever done “without Amon.” Finally, the kings of the 21st Dynasty planted in Tanis, a city in the Nile Delta that became the capital, the cult of Theban deities: primarily Amun, but also Mut and Khonsu. The Temple of Amon was built here by Pharaoh Psusennes I. And Amon shone in all his glory, while for Thebes, imperceptibly but surely, a period of decline began.

Zealous fans of Amon

With the accession of the XX and XXI dynasties, the power of the wife of the chief priest increased as rapidly as that of her husband. She was "the first ruler of Amon's harem." In all ceremonies, the role of the devoted wife of Amun, starting from the 18th dynasty, was performed by one of the pharaoh's daughters. These priestesses acquired their greatest significance and influence in the third transition period (1085-660 BC). The girls were chosen from among the pharaoh's closest relatives and were given significant power, both religious and political. They received vast estates, which were administered by administrators subordinate to them. They were surrounded by a personal court, and in their power they were almost equal to the pharaoh himself. These earthly spouses of Amun were required to remain celibate, and their positions were passed on to relatives (for example, nieces). In addition, they controlled an entire harem that was at the disposal of the god.

Divine worshiper Karomama

Princess Karomama was the granddaughter of Pharaoh Osorkon I. Her bronze statuette with inlays of gold, silver and copper is today kept in the Louvre Museum. This is one of the masterpieces of Egyptian art. “The wife of God, the mistress of both lands, the divine worshiper of Amun... the daughter of Ra, the mistress of the royal crowns, Karomama - the beloved Mut,” is written on the figurine. In addition, the inscription states that this work was created to “perpetuate the name of his mistress in the temple of Amon.” Let us note the word “mistress”; its choice indicates the influence of these women, the consorts of the god of gods. While powerful, Karomama was also noted for her infinite grace and amazing beauty, and even Champollion himself (who acquired the statuette in Egypt in 1829) seemed to be captivated by her!

Amun is the sun god of the ancient Egyptians. The prefix “Ra” in his name means the sun. Amon is the king of all gods, as well as the highest patron of the power of the pharaohs. The famous golden book of Amon Ra is associated with his name - a fiction or a real-life man-made relic, which is divided into two parts: the book of the living and book of the dead. Amon Ra had such sacred animals as the ram and the goose. Hence the images of the sun god in human form, but with the head of a ram and two large feathers. Amon always wears a crown on his head, and in his hands is a scepter, symbols of power.

Initially, the sun god of the ancient Egyptians was the patron saint of the city of Thebes. In the city he was considered a heavenly deity, and outside the city - part of the Hermopolitan Ogdoad. He was a hidden deity paired with Amonet, and acted as the embodiment of wind and air on earth. Later, the image of Amon was transformed into the sun god throughout Egypt.

The god Amun was known far beyond Egypt; the ancient Greeks sang and identified him with Zeus; they wrote hymns and odes to him. It was the oracle of Amun-Ra who announced that Andromeda should be given to the monster to be devoured. Also, the oracle of the Egyptian sun called Alexander the Great the son of Zeus-Amon, which contributed to the development of his delusions of grandeur and confidence in his own divine origin.

From a mythological point of view, the elaboration of the image of Amon is rather meager. His wife is Mut. If we talk about Amonet, then she did not have her own female image and was only the embodiment of Amon himself. Mut and Amon had a son, the lunar god Khonsu. The three of them were called the Theban triad. During the first transitional period, mentions of Amon are no longer simply referred to as a god, but as a demiurge, the supreme deity who created the whole world. After which the high priestesses began to be given the title “wife of the god Amon,” but soon only women in the royal line began to have this title. When did Thebes result? historical processes began to flourish and rise in the Egyptian kingdom, and the cult of Amon automatically rose. He becomes the main state god.

As a result of comparison and syncretism, Amun began to be combined with the sun god Ra. He becomes Amon-Ra. Under this deity's rule, the high priests became truly powerful and wealthy. This helped, thanks to the statement of the oracle Amon-Ra, to place a single woman on the throne - Hatshepsut. During her reign and until the end of the reign of Amenhotep the Third, huge temples of grandiose size and decoration began to be built.

Pharaoh Enkhaten planned to overthrow the influence of Amon-Ra, but he did not succeed in banning the worship of this deity. And with the coming to power of Tutankhamun, the cult of Amun-Ra was restored and again built on a grandiose scale. This led to the gradual formation of a theocracy and the accession to the throne of the high priest of Amon, Herihor. This fusion of the political and religious was characteristic of Egypt, and became even more obvious and pronounced in this period.

Originally one of the patrons of Thebes

Egyptian god Amon At first he was revered as one of the patrons of the city of Thebes, the deity of the air and the harvest. However, the period of the XII dynasty (20-18 centuries BC) he supplanted (replaced) Montu as the main patron of the city.

As the power of Thebes grew, so did the influence of Amon. The sky goddess Mut began to be considered the deity's wife.

The divine couple had one child - Khonsu, the deity of the Moon. Together they formed the Theban triad: Amun - Mut - Khonsu.

During the Middle Kingdom, the fertility deity Ming was identified with him. In this case, Amon is depicted with an erect phallus, characteristic of the images of Min.

During the era of the XVIII dynasty of the New Kingdom (16-14 centuries BC), he merged with the sun god Ra into a single deity, receiving the name Amon-Ra, which appears for the first time « Pyramid Texts » , that is, back in the days of the Old Kingdom.

King of all gods of Egypt

God Amun-Ra becomes the head of the entire Egyptian divine pantheon under the pharaohs of the New Kingdom, who were confident that it was this deity that helped them win military victories (in particular, he helped Ahmose I expel the Hyksos from Egypt) and supported them in every possible way. In it, invisibly (as follows from its very name), all deities, people and objects exist.

During this period, the image of Amun is identified and merges with the images of other divine beings: Horus, Hapi, Nuna, Ptah, Khepri, Sebek, Khnum and others. He was also revered as wise, omniscient, “king of all gods,” heavenly intercessor, protector of the oppressed, and creator of the world.

The deification of the pharaoh is inextricably linked with his cult, since the pharaoh was revered as his son in the flesh (the pharaoh is born from the marriage of the deity and the queen-mother, to whom he appears in the form of her husband).

Pharaohs sometimes bore names that included the name of their divine father - Amenemhet, Amenhotep. He provided great patronage and protection to the pharaoh.

Numerous temples were built in his honor, the most grandiose ones in Luxor and Karnak. The majestic remains of these temples still amaze the imagination. For example, Temple of Amon in Karnak covers an area of ​​260,000 square meters. meters! During the “beautiful festival of the valley” - a holiday dedicated to this deity, a statue of the deity mounted on a boat was solemnly taken out of this temple in front of a large crowd of people (the temple alone could accommodate 80,000 people!). Egyptian god Amon Ra with the help of the priests, he expressed his will on this day, predicted the future, and made decisions on complex issues.

Iconography of Amun

His sacred animal is the ram and the goose (both symbols of wisdom). In front of the temple at Karnak there is a whole alley, along which are located in a row huge statues with a lion's body, but with the head of a ram, guarding the pharaohs standing between their front paws.

He was usually depicted as a man (sometimes with the head of a ram), with a scepter and a crown, with two tall feathers and a solar disk. His flesh was often stained with lapis lazuli, which gave his body Blue colour. On the one hand, such coloring emphasized his heavenly status, on the other hand, the Egyptians believed that it was precisely such expensive paint, which was brought to Egypt from afar, that was worthy of decorating such a great deity.

Each of the two feathers on the headdress is divided vertically into two sections. This duality reflects the balance of opposites characteristic of the Egyptian worldview, for example, Upper and Lower Egypt, etc. Also, each feather was divided into segments by horizontal stripes. Their number was not random. Most often, there are seven segments, since this figure is one of the most significant in the religious worldview of the ancient Egyptians.