Amon Ra: The Golden Book of the Sun God. Amon, god Amon, energy channel of the god Amon (dedication, initiation) - University of the Soul Amon in ancient literature

Tourists and researchers constantly arrive in Egypt, wanting to plunge into the local atmosphere and touch its soul. Ancient Egyptian history and religion occupy a unique place in the history of Egypt, as this people left a rich heritage, both material and intellectual.

The uniqueness also lies in the fact that there was a huge number of deities revered by the ancestors, and beliefs differed even within the same country. In this regard, even the myth about the Egyptian sun god Amon-Ra has all sorts of interpretations.

Still, there are some objects that were equally important for the Egyptians of all provinces; most of the legends, references and all kinds of material objects associated with worship have been preserved about them.

Among the characters, the leading role goes to Amon-Ra, the Egyptian sun god, although, according to ancient legends, which have different versions, his name may be different.

You can get information about this deity from two works:

• "Books of the Dead";
• "Pyramid Texts".

Amun-Ra, myth of the sun god

At first, only the sun god, whose name is Ra, is mentioned. Since there were different interpretations of myths in individual parts, they depicted him in several images:

• big falcon;
• man with the head of a falcon;
• a big cat;
• phoenix;
• Pharaoh.

The ancient myth about the Egyptian sun god Amun-Ra claims that during the day his task is to illuminate the earth by floating along the heavenly river, the Nile. At night, he transfers to transport on the underground Nile. Moreover, at midnight an important event regularly takes place - a fight in the underworld between Ra and the serpent Apophis, who is 450 cubits long.

Ancient Africans called Heliopolis the city that was the home of this god. And in this area, iconic structures were erected that attract travelers and worshipers:

• Atum's house;
• Temple of Ra

Everyone who worshiped this god designated their objects with his eyes, because they believed that these parts of the body had special powers:

• right eye - endowed with the power to defeat enemies;
• left eye - can heal.

Similar amulets were found, both separately and as designs on personal belongings, tombs and ships.

No less powerful and miraculous was the name “Ra” itself, which was translated as “sun”. Knowing this, the pharaohs deliberately used this particle in their own names.

Mass worship of the sun god Ra began during the reign of the 4th dynasty of the pharaohs, when the Egyptian state began to unify. During the next dynasty, such veneration, which had already become a religion, only strengthened.

However, Ra was not the sole god recognized everywhere and by everyone; there was also Amon, first revered in the area of ​​Thebes as the lord of the wind and air. His influence grew along with the authority of the city. And somewhere in the 15th century BC, these two deities merged, and from now on there became one Amun-Ra, the Egyptian sun god.

He completely took the dominant place in the entire pantheon, winning victory and becoming its symbol. As a tribute to him, the Egyptians built temples:

• in Karnak;
• in Luxor.

And now they cannot always outshine the remains of those large-scale buildings, because the Karnak Temple had an area of ​​​​about 260 thousand square kilometers to annually receive pilgrims from all over Egypt. This is the largest building of ancient Egypt in the field of temple complexes.

In all the myths about the Egyptian sun gods, Amon-Ra was the most important deity, respected by every Egyptian, regardless of place of residence. It was believed that he was involved in any significant event, as well as in all natural phenomena, because he collected in himself all the higher powers and earthly manifestations. In addition, he patronized the pharaohs, endowing them with power, wisdom, and invincibility.

Its symbols:

• goose;
• ram.

Because of this, it is customary to depict this god as a man with a ram’s head or two feathers on his head; the following mandatory attributes were also required:

• scepter;
• crown;
• solar disk.

Even in the Karnak Temple there is an alley filled with animal statues having a lion's body and a ram's head. At their feet stand figures of pharaohs under the care of Amon-Ra.

It is noteworthy that Amun-Ra, the Egyptian sun god, was mentioned in the mythology of not only Egypt, but also Greece, as well as in the works of famous figures:

• Euripides;
• Herodotus;
• Leontes;
• Pindar.

And yet, one of them indicates that it was Amun-Ra who was the first and most important deity, who was then a serpent. He created 8 more gods, also significant, and they already gave birth to the solar Ra and Atum.

At the same time, almost nothing is indicated about the origin of humanity on the planet; only some sources claim that the tears of Amun-Ra became the basis for the first man. However, all ancient legends have one thing in common - the world was created for people so that they could breathe, the gods gave them air, and all of nature serves to ensure human life.

Amon (“hidden”, “hidden”)

Amon (“hidden”, “hidden”), in Egyptian mythology the god of the sun. Amon's sacred animal is the ram and the goose (both symbols of wisdom). God was depicted as a man (sometimes with the head of a ram), with a scepter and a crown, with two tall feathers and a solar disk. The cult of Amon originated in Thebes and then spread throughout Egypt. Amun's wife, the sky goddess Mut, and his son, the moon god Khonsu, formed the Theban triad with him.

Egyptian god Amon

In the 21st century BC, under the pharaohs of the XI dynasty of the Middle Kingdom, the cult of Amon became closer to the cult of the war god Montu, one of the main patron deities of this dynasty; with the rise of the XII dynasty, Amon displaces Montu, acquiring a state character, he is identified with the Heliopolitan sun god Ra (Amon-Ra-Montu), but the name Amon-Ra is already found in the Pyramid Texts during the Old Kingdom.

It is as Amun-Ra that he becomes a pan-Egyptian deity.

Egyptian god Amon

Amun later acquired the status of the beloved and especially revered god of the pharaohs

And during the Eighteenth Dynasty of the pharaohs, he was declared the head of the Egyptian gods. Amon-Ra granted victories to the pharaoh and was considered his father. Amon was also revered as a wise, omniscient god, “king of all gods,” heavenly intercessor, protector of the oppressed (“vizier for the poor”).

In the era of the New Kingdom, ideas arose about Amun as a god who, along with Ptah and Ra, constitutes a divine triad and at the same time is a single god, embodying all other gods, including Ptah and Ra themselves. Amon is the creator god of all things, the ruler of the world, all gods, people and objects exist invisibly in him, the ruling pharaoh is the son of Amon from his marriage to the queen mother. In the period from 1075 to 945 BC, when Egypt was ruled by the Theban priesthood, Amun became the most revered deity, his cult spread far beyond the country, to Libya and Kush (Nubia). The accession of the XXV (Kushitic) and XXII (Libyan) dynasties, the conquest of Egypt by the Assyrians in 671-663 BC, the conquest of Egypt by the Persians in 525-332 BC did not shake the position of Amon, but the center of his cult was moved by the priests to the city of Tanis , the ancient capital of Egypt in the Nile Delta.

Amon(Amun, Amen, Amanu, etc.). Amon was called: “hidden”, hidden, “invisible”, “king of all gods”, “protector of the oppressed”. Amon is the sun god in Egyptian mythology. He was depicted as a man wearing a crown (or with the head of a ram), with a scepter in his hand, a solar disk and two tall feathers (“atef”). The center of the origin of the cult and veneration of Amun is Thebes, but there are other temples in different parts of Egypt dedicated to him, for example, in Karnakak and Luxor.
During the Middle Kingdom, due to merger with the cult, Amun began to be called and revered as "Amon-Ra". Subsequently, Amun became the favorite god of the pharaohs and during the XVIII dynasty he was declared the main one among other gods.

In Thebes, Amun was considered the only revealed image who created all things, the father of all gods, who raised the sky and established the earth. The gods were born from his mouth (they were created by his word), people came from the tears of his eyes. Amun's wife is Mut (goddess of the sky), son is (god of the Moon).
Ram-headed sphinxes with lion bodies were considered to be the receptacles of his soul.
Sacred animals of Amun: ram, white goose (great Gogotun) and snake. All animals have sacred significance.
The serpent is the image of the serpent “Kem-Atef”, the Constellation Draco, the North Pole of the Earth. The white goose, or the Great Gogotun, is the image of the Full Moon, the god Hansa, a symbol of the great Day of Creation. The Ram is the image of Amun himself, the constellation Aries, a symbol of Spirit, Air, Wind, the spring equinox and fertility.
Worshipers of the god Amon were called ammunii (ammunii).
In Orphic mysticism, Amun corresponds to the north wind Boreas in the guise of the serpent or dragon Ophion. From him and the foremother Eurynoma came the World Egg, from which came all other forms of life and the universe itself with celestial bodies.

Amon was positioned as the ruler of 3 worlds: heavenly, earthly and otherworldly.

Its influence on a person’s life is quite interesting; it helps in particularly difficult situations, when it seems that “everything is lost,” and works with any area of ​​life. Prevents the destruction of life, stabilizes it. However, appealing to it cannot be used in vain; it must be really justified. His help to people’s requests comes like a miracle, “a bolt from the blue.” Especially useful during times of extreme life events.

Its main functions:

• Changes the course of the situation in the other (positive) direction;
• Helps you quickly find answers.

What does the channel of the energy of the god Amon give to a person:

• Help in difficult, seemingly insoluble situations;
• Its power extends to any area of ​​life: relationships, business and money (career, transactions), everyday life, moving (travel), health and others;
• Helps you find unexpected and quick answers to questions;
• Gives additional chances to correct a person’s life and rethink it.

Although a person asking for help from Amon can count on him, at the same time he must be determined to independently resolve his issues. Amon will help “not to fall into the abyss of problems,” but only in cases where a person is determined to change his life, wants to survive, and get out of a difficult life situation.
If Ra has the greatest power and dominates only during the day, then Amon always has influence, regardless of the time of day. You can use its energy at any time.

Amun is the sun god of the ancient Egyptians. The prefix “Ra” in his name means the sun. Amon is the king of all gods, as well as the highest patron of the power of the pharaohs. The famous golden book of Amon Ra is associated with his name - a fiction or a real-life man-made relic, which is divided into two parts: the book of the living and the book of the dead. Amon Ra had such sacred animals as the ram and the goose. Hence the images of the sun god in human form, but with the head of a ram and two large feathers. Amon always wears a crown on his head, and in his hands is a scepter, symbols of power.

Initially, the sun god of the ancient Egyptians was the patron saint of the city of Thebes. In the city he was considered a heavenly deity, and outside the city - part of the Hermopolitan Ogdoad. He was a hidden deity paired with Amonet, and acted as the embodiment of wind and air on earth. Later, the image of Amun was transformed into the sun god throughout Egypt.

The god Amun was known far beyond Egypt; the ancient Greeks sang and identified him with Zeus; they wrote hymns and odes to him. It was the oracle of Amun-Ra who announced that Andromeda should be given to the monster to be devoured. Also, the oracle of the Egyptian sun called Alexander the Great the son of Zeus-Amon, which contributed to the development of his delusions of grandeur and confidence in his own divine origin.

From a mythological point of view, the elaboration of the image of Amon is rather meager. His wife is Mut. If we talk about Amonet, then she did not have her own female image and was only the embodiment of Amon himself. Mut and Amun had a son - the lunar god Khonsu. The three of them were called the Theban triad. During the first transitional period, mentions of Amon are no longer simply referred to as a god, but as a demiurge, the supreme deity who created the entire world. After which the high priestesses began to be given the title “wife of the god Amon,” but soon only women in the royal line began to have this title. When Thebes, as a result of historical processes, began to flourish and rise in the Egyptian kingdom, the cult of Amon automatically rose. He becomes the main state god.

As a result of comparison and syncretism, Amun began to be combined with the sun god Ra. He becomes Amon-Ra. Under this deity's rule, the high priests became truly powerful and wealthy. This helped, thanks to the statement of the oracle Amon-Ra, to place a single woman on the throne - Hatshepsut. During her reign and until the end of the reign of Amenhotep the Third, huge temples of grandiose size and decoration began to be built.

Pharaoh Enkhaten planned to overthrow the influence of Amun-Ra, but he did not succeed in banning the worship of this deity. And with the coming to power of Tutankhamun, the cult of Amon-Ra was restored and again built on a grandiose scale. This led to the gradual formation of a theocracy and the accession to the throne of the high priest of Amon, Herihor. This fusion of the political and religious was characteristic of Egypt, and became even more obvious and pronounced in this period.

Amon is the hidden god of heaven in Egyptian mythology. The ram and goose (symbols of wisdom) are sacred animals of Amun. Since the Middle Kingdom, he has been depicted in an anthropomorphic form and with shuti feathers on his headdress, borrowed from the god of fertility Min (Koptos). Amun is originally the local god of Thebes. In addition to this local cult, Amun was also considered one of the hidden deities of the Hermopolitan Ogdoad, paired with his female hypostasis (Amaunet). Mythological elaboration of the image of Amun is scarce. It was believed that his wife was Mut, although in earlier sources Useret appeared in this capacity (as for Amaunet, she was only the female incarnation of Amun and did not have her own image). The son of Amun and Mut was the moon god Khonsu. Amun, Mut and Khonsu together made up the Theban Triad. Due to his connection with Ming, the epithet "Kamutef" was attached to him.

The reign of the 18th dynasty was marked by the construction of grandiose temples to Amun at Karnak and Luxor, which reached special heights under Hatshepsut, Amenhotep III and Ramesses II.

After the failure of Pharaoh Akhenaten's attempt to ban the veneration of Amun and introduce in its place the cult of Aten, close to monotheism, his successors, Aye and Horemheb, restored the cults of ancient deities led by Amon-Ra. As a result, the position of the Theban priests only strengthened, which led to the actual establishment of a theocracy under the last Ramessides (XX Dynasty) and the accession to the throne of Herihor, the high priest of Amun.

Amon in Kush

As a result of the Egyptian conquest of Nubia (Kush), the supreme deity of the Kushites was finally identified with Amun during the 18th Dynasty. As a result, by the 1st millennium BC. e. the cult of Amun in these former southern possessions of Egypt became even more centralized than in Upper Egypt itself, where Isis and Horus became very popular. The holy city of Amun in Nubia became its first capital, Napata.

Received its name from a shepherd who erected a temple in Libya. According to another story, Dionysus in India (that is, Ethiopia) was looking for water and did not find it, a ram came out of the sand and showed water. Then Dionysus asked Zeus to include the ram among the constellations. Where water was found, Dionysus built the temple of Zeus Amon

The oracle of Amon said that Andromeda should be given to the monster to be devoured.

It is known that the oracle of Amon, located in the oasis of Siwa in the Libyan desert, was visited by Alexander the Great, who recaptured Egypt from the Persians; the oracle called Alexander the son of “Zeus-Ammon,” which gave him confidence in his own divinity.

Rationalist interpretation

Eponyms

Some terms (eponyms) in modern languages ​​come from the name Amun, which came through the Greek language in the form “Ammon”.

In particular, it is the name of the extinct cephalopod ammonites, the spiral shape of whose shells resembles the ram's horns with which this god was sometimes depicted.

Another example is ammonia, whose name is derived from the Latin expression sal ammoniacus(“salt of Amun”), since ammonium chloride could be obtained near the temple of Amon in the Libyan oasis of Siwa. In hot climates, urea (NH 2) 2 CO, contained in the waste products of animals (in particular, caravan camels passing through the oasis, which was an important crossing of trade routes), decomposes especially quickly. One of the decomposition products is ammonia. According to other sources, ammonia got its name from the ancient Egyptian word denoting people who worshiped the god Amon. During their rituals, they sniffed ammonia NH 4 Cl, which, when heated, evaporates ammonia.

Pierre got out of the carriage and, past the working militia, ascended the mound from which, as the doctor told him, the battlefield could be seen.
It was about eleven o'clock in the morning. The sun stood somewhat to the left and behind Pierre and brightly illuminated through the clean, rare air the huge panorama that opened up before him like an amphitheater across the rising terrain.
Up and to the left along this amphitheater, cutting it, wound the great Smolensk road, passing through a village with a white church, which lay five hundred steps in front of the mound and below it (this was Borodino). The road crossed under the village across a bridge and, through ups and downs, wound higher and higher to the village of Valuev, visible six miles away (Napoleon was now standing there). Beyond Valuev, the road disappeared into a yellowing forest on the horizon. In this birch and spruce forest, to the right of the direction of the road, the distant cross and bell tower of the Kolotsk Monastery glittered in the sun. All along this blue distance, to the right and left of the forest and the road, in different places one could see smoking fires and indefinite masses of our and enemy’s troops. To the right, along the flow of the Kolocha and Moskva rivers, the area was gorged and mountainous. Between their gorges the villages of Bezzubovo and Zakharyino could be seen in the distance. To the left, the terrain was more level, there were fields with grain, and one smoking, burnt village could be seen - Semenovskaya.
Everything that Pierre saw to the right and to the left was so vague that neither the left nor the right side of the field completely satisfied his idea. Everywhere there was not the battle that he expected to see, but fields, clearings, troops, forests, smoke from fires, villages, mounds, streams; and no matter how much Pierre tried, he could not find a position in this lively area and could not even distinguish your troops from the enemy.
“We need to ask someone who knows,” he thought and turned to the officer, who was looking with curiosity at his huge non-military figure.
“Let me ask,” Pierre turned to the officer, “what village is ahead?”
- Burdino or what? - said the officer, turning to his comrade with a question.
“Borodino,” the other answered, correcting him.
The officer, apparently pleased with the opportunity to talk, moved towards Pierre.
- Are ours there? asked Pierre.
“Yes, and the French are further away,” said the officer. - There they are, visible.
- Where? Where? asked Pierre.
- You can see it with the naked eye. Yes, here you go! “The officer pointed to the smoke visible to the left across the river, and his face showed that stern and serious expression that Pierre had seen on many faces he met.
- Oh, these are the French! And there?.. - Pierre pointed to the left at the mound, near which troops could be seen.
- These are ours.
- Oh, ours! And there?.. - Pierre pointed to another distant mound with a large tree, near a village visible in the gorge, where fires were also smoking and something was black.
“It’s him again,” said the officer. (This was the Shevardinsky redoubt.) - Yesterday it was ours, and now it’s his.
– So what is our position?
- Position? - said the officer with a smile of pleasure. “I can tell you this clearly, because I built almost all of our fortifications.” You see, our center is in Borodino, right here. “He pointed to a village with a white church in front. - There is a crossing over Kolocha. Here, you see, where the rows of mown hay still lie in the low place, here is the bridge. This is our center. Our right flank is here (he pointed sharply to the right, far into the gorge), there is the Moscow River, and there we built three very strong redoubts. Left flank... - and then the officer stopped. - You see, it’s difficult to explain to you... Yesterday our left flank was right there, in Shevardin, you see, where the oak is; and now we have carried the left wing back, now there, there - see the village and the smoke? “This is Semenovskoye, right here,” he pointed to the Raevsky mound. “But it’s unlikely there will be a battle here.” That he transferred troops here is a deception; he will probably go around to the right of Moscow. Well, no matter where it is, many will be missing tomorrow! - said the officer.
The old non-commissioned officer, who approached the officer during his story, silently awaited the end of his superior's speech; but at this point he, obviously dissatisfied with the officer’s words, interrupted him.
“You have to go for the tours,” he said sternly.
The officer seemed embarrassed, as if he realized that he could think about how many people would be missing tomorrow, but he shouldn’t talk about it.
“Well, yes, send the third company again,” the officer said hastily.
- Who are you, not a doctor?
“No, I am,” answered Pierre. And Pierre went downhill again past the militia.
- Oh, damned ones! - said the officer following him, holding his nose and running past the workers.
“There they are!.. They’re carrying, they’re coming... There they are... they’re coming in now...” suddenly voices were heard, and officers, soldiers and militiamen ran forward along the road.
A church procession rose from under the mountain from Borodino. Ahead of everyone, infantry marched orderly along the dusty road with their shakos removed and guns lowered downwards. Church singing could be heard behind the infantry.