AMON

also spelled Amun, Amen, or Ammon Egyptian deity who was revered as king of the gods. Amon may have been originally a local deity at Khmun (Hermopolis) in Middle Egypt; his cult reached Thebes, where he became the patron of the pharaohs by the reign of Mentuhotep I (20081957 BC). At that date he was already identified with the sun god Re of Heliopolis and, as Amon-Re, was received as a national god. Represented in human form, sometimes with a ram's head, or as a ram, Amon-Re was worshiped as part of the Theban triad including a goddess, Mut, and a youthful god, Khons. Amon's name meant The Hidden One, and his image was painted blue to denote invisibility. This attribute of invisibility led to a popular belief during the New Kingdom (1539c. 1075 BC) in the knowledge and impartiality of Amon, making him a god for those who felt oppressed. Amon's influence was, in addition, closely linked to the political well-being of Egypt. During the Hyksos domination (c. 1630c. 1523 BC), the princes of Thebes sustained his worship. Following the Theban victory over the Hyksos and the creation of an empire, Amon's stature and the wealth of his temples grew. In the late 18th dynasty Akhenaton (Amenhotep IV) directed his religious reform against the traditional cult of Amon, but he was unable to convert people from their belief in Amon and the other gods; and, under Tutankhamen, Ay, and Horemheb (13321292 BC), Amon was gradually restored as the god of the empire and patron of the pharaoh. Ptah, holding the emblems of life and power, bronze statuette, Memphis, c. 600100 In the New Kingdom, religious speculation among Amon's priests led to the concept of Amon as part of a triad (with Ptah and Re) or as a single god of whom all the other gods, even Ptah (see photograph) and Re, were manifestations. Under the sacerdotal state ruled by the priests of Amon at Thebes (c. 1075c. 950 BC), Amon evolved into a universal god who intervened through oracles in many affairs of state. The succeeding 22nd and 23rd dynasties, the invasion of Egypt by Assyria (671c. 663 BC), and the sack of Thebes (c. 663 BC) did not reduce the stature of the cult, which had acquired a second main centre at Tanis in the Nile River delta. Moreover, the worship of Amon had become established among the Cushites of the Sudan, who were accepted by Egyptian worshipers of Amon when they invaded Egypt and ruled as the 25th dynasty (715664 BC). From this period onward, resistance to foreign occupation of Egypt was strongest in Thebes. Amon's cult spread to the oases, especially Siwa in Egypt's western desert, where Amon was linked with Jupiter. Alexander the Great won acceptance as pharaoh by consulting the oracle at Siwa, and he also rebuilt the sanctuary of Amon's temple at Luxor. The early Ptolemaic rulers contained Egyptian nationalism by supporting the temples, but, starting with Ptolemy IV Philopator in 207 BC, nationalistic rebellions in Upper Egypt erupted. During the revolt of 8885 BC, Ptolemy IX Soter II sacked Thebes, dealing Amon's cult a severe blow. In 27 BC a strong earthquake devastated the Theban temples, while in the Greco-Roman world the cult of Isis and Osiris gradually displaced Amon.