Also called Amen, Amun, Ammon, and Amoun in Egyptian myth. The most important god of Thebes region, Amon is actually a human form. Until the end of the 12th dynasty, Amon was just a local god of Thebes. However, as the princes of Thebes conquered most parts of the Upper and Lower Egypt, Amon started gaining prominence, especially in the upper regions of the country. The rulers of Thebes also tried to make him the king of all gods, but with out any perceptible success.
Also the god of the poor and oppressed, Amon enjoyed immense popularity among the ordinary citizens of Egypt. A deep believer in the equality of justice, he protected the weak and oppressed from strong and mighty people. However, he always placed a caveat before providing any help or assistance to the people; he made sure that people demonstrate their worthiness or to confess their sins first. There was a perfect synergy between this god and the priests, and with each passing day priests became strong both in social and monetary aspects.
Legend says that when the great queen Hatshepsut got a considerable degree of support from the local priests, she honored god Amon is her own father and built a great temple at Deir el-Bahri. Mired among political controversies, this god soon lost his prominence as the city of Thebes lost its importance as the capital of Egypt. Thutmosis IV always wanted to worship the purer form of Sun god and this urge for purity made him to switch over to another important god, Aten, who eventually became the de facto god of the great Pharaohs. The successor pharaohs to Thutmosis IV, starting from Akhetaten began a campaign of erasing the name of Amen from the public works of Egypt.
However, the great pharaoh of ancient Egypt, Tutankhamon, moved his capital back to Thebes and started restoring the old gods including Amon. Nevertheless, god Amon was never successful in regaining his old fame and charm, and this eventually led to the pharaohs looking forward to powerful gods of the Osirian family. Amon’s wife was the famed mother goddess, Mut and his son was another equally well-known moon god, Khonsu. However, other mythological texts mention that Amon to be one of the eight primordial god of creation.
Amon represents five different forms of Egyptian myth and they are:
- As a man: Available images show that he is sitting as a man on the throne, with scepter in one hand, while ankh in the other.
- As a man: Available records also show that he shows himself as a god with the head of a frog.
- As a man: He also represents as a man with the head of a cobra.
- He also represents as a man with ape’s head.
- The great stone sculpture of ancient Egypt shows him as a man with a lion’s head sitting on a great pedestal.
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Amun, reconstructed Egyptian Yamānu (also spelled Amon, Amoun, Amen, and rarely Imen or Yamun, Greek Ἄμμων Ammon, and Ἅμμων Hammon), was a God in Egyptian mythology who in the form of Amun-Ra became the focus of the most complex system of theology in Ancient Egypt…”
Quote Source: Wikipedia
Credit: “Amun” by Jeff Dahl – Own work. Licensed under GFDL via Wikimedia Commons
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