Amun

Amun, also spelled as Amen or Amon, was a major ancient Egyptian deity. He was attested since the Old Kingdom together with his wife Amunet. With the 11th dynasty, he rose to the position of patron deity of Thebes by replacing Monthu.

After the rebellion of Thebes against the Hyksos and with the rule of Ahmose I, Amun acquired national importance, expressed in his fusion with Ra, as Amun-Ra or Amun-Re.

Amun-Ra retained chief importance in the Egyptian pantheon throughout the New Kingdom. Amun-Ra in this period held the position of transcendental, self-created creator deity "par excellence", he was the champion of the pooer or troubled and central to personal piety. His position as Kin gof Gods developed to the point of virtual monotheism where other gods became manifestations of him. With Osiris, Amun-Ra is the most widely recorded of the Egyptian gods.

As the chief deity of the Egyptian Empire, Amun-Ra also came to be worshipped outside of Egypt, according to the testimony of Ancient Greek historiographers in Libya and Nubia. As Zeus Ammon, he came to be identified with Zeus in Greece.

Early history
Amun and Amunet are mentioned in the Old Egyptian Pyramid Texts. The name Amun (written as imn) meant something like "the hidden one" or "invisible".

Amun rose to the position of tutelary deity of Thebes after the end of the First Intermediate Period under the 11th dynasty. As the patron of Thebes, his spouse was Mut. In Thebes, Amun as father, Mut as mother and the moon goddess Khonsu formed a divine family or "Theban Triad".

Theology
In the New Kingdom, Amun became successively identified with all other Egyptian deities to the point of virtual monotheism. Primarily, the god of wind Amun came to be identified with the solar god Ra and the god of fertility and creation Min so that Amun-Ra had the main characteristic of a solar god, creator god, and fertility god. He also adopted the aspect of the ram from the Nubian solar god.