mirrored file at http://SaturnianCosmology.Org/ For complete access to all the files of this collection see http://SaturnianCosmology.org/search.php ========================================================== [1]Home - [2]Gods - [3]Temples - [4]Priesthood - [5]Creation Myths - [6]Women - [7]Wisdom Texts - [8]History - [9]Sitemap The Creation Myths [10]The Ennead of Heliopolis, part I - [11]The Ennead of Heliopolis, part II - [12]Amun, Creator at Thebes" [13]Ptah of Memphis - [14]The Ogdoad of Hermopolis - [15]Khmun and the Potter's Wheel - [16]Nit - Creatrix Amun as Transcendent Creator While at Hermopolis Amun was one of the eight primeval beings who initiated existence, at Thebes (Waset) he was something else. In the Leiden hymn we find references to a deity who is 'too great to inquire into and too powerful to know'. _First Appearance_ His name together with Amaunetīs are mentioned as early as the Pyramid Texts (Dyn 5.), where it states that the king sits upon the throne of Amun. He also protects other gods with his shadow. The earliest temples to Amun seem to have been erected in the Theban area in the 11th Dynasty, when he was worshipped as a local deity there. From the end of Dyn 11 the cult of Amun increased in importance until it was at its' height during the New Kingdom (except for 18 years when Akhenaten was proclaimed as the only god). The worship of Amun endured into the Roman days. _The Name of Amun_ His name infers the meaning 'to conceal' which points at the Egyptians perceiving Amun as 'the hidden one' or 'the concealed one'. According to the Theban priesthood, which made repeated efforts at describing him, Amun was too much of a mystery to be explained. He was too vast and impossible to describe with one name, why one of his epiteths is 'rich in names'. It is said that also other gods are unaware of his true form, as they were created later than him and by him. His invisibility carries connotations with the wind, or breeze, his element in the Ogdoad, and which is seen in the depictions where he carries two high plumes on top of his head, plumes being a sign for wind or air. The word 'aman' is Libyan in origin and means 'water'. It is sometimes thought that it might be connected to Amun, but as water is not prominent in Amunīs aspects, this theory is very vague. _The Theban Cosmogony_ According to the Theban cosmology Amun is the superior creator deity, preceding even the Primeval Mound. 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 Thebes Amun transcends creation (Waset) 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. This event is described as the 'fluid' of Amun which came together with his body and formed a cosmic egg. Here too we see a reference to the circularity of creation, but the Leiden Hymn tells also of another way Amun initiated creation, which associates with one of his sacred animals, the goose. Here he is called the 'Great Honker', who gave a great screech, which 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 which carried the cosmic egg from which all life emerged. _Amun-Re, King of the Gods_ 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', and references to him as Amun-Re are many. He was depicted with a lion, the symbol of the solar disc was added to his name and he was called 'a fierce red-eyed lion'. This was a conscious effort at linking Amun to the Heliopolitan cosmogony, thereby enhancing Amun to the status as 'King of the Gods' or 'Amun-Re nesu netjeru'.This goes back to the Middle Kingdom, where references to Amun in the Book of Going forth By Day states that Amun is 'eldest of the gods in the eastern sky'. Three deities are more knit to Amun than others, (according to Hart, p 24) and that is Re as his face, Ptah as his body, and Amun as his invisible identity. Ptah, in his form of Ptah-Tatenen, equals another aspect of the Creator God, namely the one which personifies the fertile earth which rises from the Nile after inundation. This might be the symbolic link making Ptah-Tatenen the body of Amun. _Other Creation Myths:_ [17]The Ennead of Heliopolis, part I [18]The Ennead of Heliopolis, part II [19]Amun, Creator at Thebes" [20]Ptah of Memphis [21]The Ogdoad of Hermopolis [22]Khmun and the Potter's Wheel [23]Nit - Creatrix Sources: Myth and Symbol in Ancient Egypt by R.T. Rundle Clark, Thames & Hudson, pbk 1993. Egyptian Myths by George Hart, British Museum Press, 1997. A dictionary of Egyptian Gods and Goddesses by George Hart, 1986 The Ancient Egyptian Coffin Texts, transl: R.O. Faulkner, Aris & Phillips 1973 The Book of Going Forth by Day, transl: George Allen, Univ. of Chicago Press 1974 The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts, transl: R.O. Faulkner, Clarendon Press, 1969 Egyptian Religion by Siegfried Morenz, Cornell University Press 1992 Copyright 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003. All right reserved. No text or images may be used without permission from the webmistress or the photographer. [24]Contact me