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His name has been repeated by many, millions of times, for thousands of years, in ancient Egypt and throughout the rest of the world. His name is still being repeated nowadays, by people of all faiths, without even realizing it. For the followers of Judaism, Christianity and Islam all end their prayers by saying "Amen"
Since there are no written short vowels in the ancient Egyptian language, his name may be written and pronounced as Amen, Amon, or Amun. All three are one and the same. Amen's name means "Hidden". For he is everywhere, but you cannot see him.
Amen is the delicate breath of the living. He provides the spirit which animates the living earth and all creatures.
The Leyden Papyrus, (now in the Leyden Museum in Holland), which is dated to ca. 300 BCE, describes Amen in the section called Stanza 600 as follows:
Another section in the Leyden Papyrus, called Stanza 60, states that Amen governs the earth and that his power extends to the edge of the universe. He has no definition, but he is the reason why the universe exists.
When Amen is combined with Ra, his name becomes Amen-Ra. He is hawk headed and wears the solar disk surrounded by the cobra.
When Amen combines with Min as Min-Amen, he is shown with an erect phallus, with the flail cocked over his upraised arm. Min-Amen symbolizes the creative urge manifested as the universal sexuality. In the Greek mythology, Min-Amen and his flail are equated to Zeus and his thunderbolt.
During the Old Kingdom, Mentu, symbolized as the bull, was prominent at Ta-Apet (Thebes) because it was the Age of Taurus. Around 2000 BCE, Taurus gave way to the Age of Aries, whose symbol is the ram. Ancient Egyptians were responsive to cosmic changes, and therefore as the zodiac sign changed to Aries, Amen rose to eminence with his ram-headed symbol.
Answer for yourself: Could this changing of the constellations have anything to do with the rise of Moses (Akhenaton of the 18th Dynasty) and the Exodus? You will be blown away by what you will read later about this.
Answer for yourself: Could there have been disagreement between the 4 centers of theology in Egypt that precipitated this Exodus?
Additional confirmation of the ram-headed Amen and its symbolism of the Age of Aries, is found in the Triple Shrine of Amen/Mut/Khonsu, at the Karnak Temple. On the left wall, he is pictured as a ram, traveling across the heavens on his barge. This representation, together with the references in many texts, to Amen as "a ram in the sky", support the astronomical/astrological interpretation.
There is absolutely no evidence of priestly warfare during the history of ancient Egypt, except during the reigns of Jacoba (who could this be?) and that of Akhenaton. These stories will be told in later articles.
Mut is the companion of Amen at Ta-Apet (Thebes). The name "Mut" is connected linguistically with the many similar-sounding words, found in many languages, for "mother". She is another personification of the one Great God whose other forms include Het-Heru (Hathor), Sekhmet, Auset (Isis), and Nut.
Mut is usually depicted as a woman wearing a vulture headdress, sometimes she is shown with the body of the vulture so artfully forming her own head, that it passes for a headdress. The choice of the vulture for this particular feminine role is possibly because:
Sometimes Mut, this zealous mother, is shown with feathered, outstretched winged arms, which matches our common expression, "under her wings."
Among the many festivals held at Ta-Apet (Thebes) are the Apet Feast and the Feast of the Valley. The Apet Feast celebrated the one mile (2 km) journey of Amen from his sanctuary at Karnak Temple to the temple of Luxor and back again. The statue of Amen traveled partly on land, carried in a model boat on the shoulders of the priests, and partly in a real boat on the river, while crowds of spectators gathered on the banks. Scenes from an Apet Feast, celebrated during the reign of Twtankhamen, decorate the walls of a colonnade in the Luxor temple, and give a lively impression of the occasion.
Queen Hatshepsut also commemorated this event in the "Red Chapel", at the temple of Amen at Karnak.
It is ironic that the present-day Moslems of Luxor, perform the same ancient festivities, starting at the Abu-el-Haggay mosque located at Luxor Temple.
The boat of The Hidden One (invisible to all) still tours TaApet(Thebes), as it always did.