Amen's name means "The Hidden One." Amen was the patron
deity of the city of Thebes from earliest times, and was viewed (along
with his consort Amenet) as a primordial creation-deity by the priests
of Hermopolis. His sacred animals were the goose and the ram.
Up to the Middle Kingdom Amen was merely a local god in Thebes; but
when the Thebans had established their sovereignty in Egypt, Amen
became a prominent deity, and by Dynasty XVIII was termed the King
of the Gods. His famous temple, Karnak, is the largest religious structure
ever built by man. According to Budge, Amen by Dynasty XIX-XX was
thought of as "an invisible creative power which was the source
of all life in heaven, and on the earth, and in the great deep, and
in the Underworld, and which made itself manifest under the form of
Ra." Additionally, Amen appears to have
been the protector of any pious devotee in need.
Amen was self-created, according to later traditions; according to
the older Theban traditions, Amen was created by Thoth
as one of the eight primordial deities of creation (Amen, Amenet,
Heq, Heqet, Nun, Naunet,
Kau, Kauket).
During the New Kingdom, Amen's consort was Mut,
"Mother," who seems to have been the Egyptian equivalent
of the "Great Mother" archetype. The two thus formed a pair
reminiscent of the God and Goddess of other traditions such as Wicca.
Their child was the moon god Khons.
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