The ANKH,the EYE OF RÉ, the Amulet of the Heart, the
PAPYRUS SCEPTER, and images of the vulture were popular
among the faithful. The favored amulet, however, appears
to be the SCARAB, the sacred beetle symbol that repre-
sented all of the mystical connotations of the solar cults
and eternal life. The scarabs were normally fashioned out
of stone, wood, metal, schist, steatite, and bronze (dis-
covered in a Twentieth Dynasty site), and could be small
in size or large.
The BOOK OF THE DEAD, the mortuary text used
throughout Egypt’s later eras, contained a list of amulets
required for the proper preparation of a corpse. One
amulet placed in almost every mummy was the djed.
The scarab and other amulets were placed according to
tradition and fashioned out of specific materials, colored
red or green normally. Incanted with spells these sym-
bols supposedly were inspired by the god THOTHin HER-
MOPOLISin the Old Kingdom (2575–2134 B.C.E.).
See also MAGIC.
Amun (Amon) A god of ancient Egypt known in early
eras but attaining dominance in the New Kingdom at
THEBES, Amun, whose name means “hidden,” figured in
the Hermopolitan myths associated with the dynamic
force of life. The deity and his female counterpart,
AMAUNET, were mentioned in the PYRAMID TEXTSin the
Fifth Dynasty (2465–2323 B.C.E.) and Sixth Dynasty
(2323–2150 B.C.E.). The first evidence locating the god in
Thebes is an inscription of the NOMARCHRehuy, also of
the Sixth Dynasty, who claimed to have performed ser-
vices for Amun.
When the Thebans began to exert influence over
Egypt’s political scene, Amun’s cult started its ascendancy.
During the New Kingdom (1550–1070 B.C.E.) the god
was elevated in status and infused with many attributes
ofother divine beings. Amun was declared to have given
birth to himself, and it was stressed that no other gods
had such power. All of the other deities in Egypt’s pan-
theon traced their being to his self-creation. Amun was
included in the OGDOAD of HERMOPOLIS, then at the
PRIMEVAL MOUNDof MEMPHIS, at which time he was sup-
posed to have formed all the other gods. He then left the
earth to abide as RÉin the heavens, taking the form of a
divine child revealed in the LOTUS.
In statues, Amun was normally depicted as a hand-
some, virile young man or as a ram with curled horns.
The rulers of the New Kingdom carried his banners every-
where in their establishment of the empire, and the tem-
ple in Thebes received tributes from many lands. Amun
was “the Greatest of Heaven, Eldest of Earth,” and the
priests of his temple wrote tender hymns in his honor.
The generosity of ’AHMOSE(r. 1550–1525 B.C.E.), who
made donations to the temple of Amun in thanksgiving
for his victories, set a pattern in the New Kingdom, and
the god was showered with gifts by ’Ahmose’s successors.
Both the temples at KARNAKand LUXORbenefited from
royal patronage. In time, Amun was revered throughout
Egypt, as the Amunite priests assumed more and more
political control. In some historical periods, the deity was
addressed as Amun-Ré. A shrine was erected for Amun in
the SIWA OASIS, which was later called Jupiter Ammon by
the Romans, and pilgrimages were undertaken in every
era to worship the god there.
At Thebes, Amun was provided with a consort, the
goddess MUT, and with a son, KHONS(1) or Khonsu. The
ram, the symbol of the god’s true spiritual power, was
kept at Thebes for religious ceremonies, embodying
the energies of the deity and his beauty. During the
’AMARNAPeriod the temples of Amun were attacked and
closed by order of AKHENATEN (r. 1353–1335 B.C.E.).
When TUT’ANKHAMUNcame to the throne in 1333 B.C.E.,
he restored the god’s primacy over Egypt. This restoration
of Amun as the paramount deity of Egypt was calculated
to appease the priests of Amun and to settle the unrest
caused in the land by the heretical actions of Akhenaten.
Many FESTIVALSwere celebrated in honor of Amun.
One of these, the “Beautiful Feast of the Valley,” was
especially popular. The god’s statue was taken across the
Nile to the western shore of Thebes, where people waited
to greet the retinue of priests and devotees. Ritual meals
and mortuary offerings were set before the tombs of the
dead, while people held picnics in the various mortuary
chambers and courts. Amun’s priests visited each tomb or
grave site, and special Bouquets of the God were placed at
the tombs as mementos. Singers and dancers, accompa-
nied by lively bands, followed the priests and conducted
rituals. The festivals of Amun were popular throughout
Egypt in the New Kingdom.Suggested Readings:Ashby, Muata Abhaya. The Hymns of
Amun: Ancient Egyptian Mystical Psychology. New York:
Cruzian Mystic, 1997; Assman, Jan, and Anthony Alcock,
trans. Egyptian Solar Religion in the New Kingdom: RE, Amun
and the Crisis of Polytheism.New York: Routledge, 1995.Amun-dyek’het(fl. seventh century B.C.E.)Queen of
the Twenty-fifth Dynasty enslaved by the Persians
The consort of TAHARQA(r. 690–664 B.C.E.), she fell into
the hands of ESSARHADDONof Assyria when he invaded
Egypt in 671 B.C.E. Taharqa had been routed by Assyrian
forces and had fled southward. Taharqa’s son and heir,
USHANAHURU, as well as the consort, Queen Amun-dyek-
’het, and the entire court were taken by Essarhaddon to
his capital at NINEVEHas slaves and were never seen again
in Egypt.Amunemhet (1)(fl. 16th century B.C.E.)Infant prince
of the Eighteenth Dynasty
He was the son of AMENHOTEP I(r. 1525–1504 B.C.E.) and
Queen AH’HOTEP(2).His body was discovered in DEIR EL-Amunemhet 35