Also called Amon, Amen, Amun-Ra, the Hidden One.
Their story
Amun began as a local god of Thebes and as one of the eight primordial beings of Hermopolis, where he stood for hiddenness. When Theban rulers reunited Egypt, he rose to become king of the gods and was joined with the sun as Amun-Ra. Each year during Opet his image sailed from Karnak to Luxor temple to renew the royal power, and at the Beautiful Festival of the Valley he crossed the river to visit the dead. The Leiden hymns say he is hidden even from the gods, yet ordinary people called him the vizier of the poor, who hears whoever calls to him.
Best times to give to them
- Opet Festival
- Beautiful Festival of the Valley
- dawn
What they like being given
- fresh bread
- cool water
- frankincense or kyphi incense
- blue or white flowers
- beer or a non-alcoholic malt drink
How to honour them
- Read a line from a hymn to Amun at dawn, then sit in silence for a while, since his nature is the unseen.
- Keep a small image of a ram or the double plumes on your shrine.
- Give thanks openly when a prayer is answered, as the villagers of Deir el-Medina did on their stelae.
How they can help you
- feeling unheard
- fairness and justice
- steadiness in leadership
- finding hidden strength
Symbols
- double plumed crown
- ram with curved horns
- goose
- blue skin
Akhenaten suppressed his cult in favour of the Aten, and his name was hacked from monuments before being restored.
Sources
- Leiden Hymns to Amun (Papyrus Leiden I 350)
- Hymn to Amun-Ra (Papyrus Boulaq 17)
- Papyrus Anastasi II
- Wilkinson, The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt
More Egyptian gods
- Osiris Lord of the afterlife and new growth
- Horus The falcon, protector of the rightful king
- Ra The sun who sails the sky
- Thoth Scribe of the gods, lord of wisdom
- Anubis Guardian and guide of the dead
- Khonsu The Traveller, the moon who heals
- Ptah Creator by word and patron of craftsmen
- Atum The self-created first god of Heliopolis