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Amen-Rā

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Mut, and Khonsu formed the

great triad of Thebes. Amen-Ra was said to be the son of
Ptaḥ, and he seems to have usurped
the attributes of many of the gods.
The word Åmen means 'hidden.' His
chief titles were "lord of the thrones
of the two lands," and "king of the
gods." He is represented as wearing
horns and feathers, and holding

'rule,' 'dominion,' 'power,' and
'stability.' The god Menu, or Amsu

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exalted position which Amen-Rã, originally a mere local deity, occupied at Thebes, will be best understood from the translation of a hymn to him written in hieratic during the XVIIIth or XIXth dynasty :—

*

AMEN-RA.

"Hymn to Amen-Ra, the bull in Heliopolis, president of all the gods, beautiful god, beloved one, the giver of the life of all warmth to all beautiful cattle!

"Hail to thee, Åmen-Ra, lord of the thrones of the two lands, at the head of the Apts. The bull of his mother, at the head of his fields, the extender of footsteps, at the head of the "land of the South," lord of the Matchau, § prince of Araby, lord of the sky, eldest son of earth, lord

A French version of this hymn is given by Grébaut in his Hymne à Ammon-Rā, Paris, 1875. The hieratic text is published by Mariette, Les Papyrus Egyptiens du Musée de Boulaq, p. 11-13.

+ The great temple at Karnak.

Ethiopia and Asia.

A people of East Africa,

of things which exist, establisher of things, establisher of all things.

"One in his times, as among the gods. Beautiful bull of the cycle of the gods, president of all the gods, lord of Law, father of the gods, maker of men, creator of beasts, lord of things which exist, creator of the staff of life, maker of the green food which makes cattle to live. Form made by Ptaḥ, beautiful child, beloved one. The gods make adorations to him, the maker of things which are below, and of things which are above. He shines on the two lands sailing through the sky in peace. King of the South and North, the SUN (Ra), whose word is law, prince of the world! The mighty of valour, the lord of terror, the chief who makes the earth like unto himself. How very many more are his forms than those of any (other) god! The gods rejoice in his beauties, and they make praises to him in the two great horizons, at (his) risings in the double horizon of flame. The gods love the smell of him when he, the eldest born of the dew,* comes from Araby, when he traverses the land of the Matchau, the beautiful face coming from Neter-ta. The gods cast themselves down before his feet when they recognize their lord in his majesty, the lord of fear, the mighty one of victory, the mighty of Will, the master of diadems, the verdifier of offerings (?), the maker of tchefau food.

"Adorations to thee, O thou maker of the gods, who hast stretched out the heavens and founded the earth! The untiring watcher, Åmsu-Amen, lord of eternity, maker of everlasting, to whom adorations are made (literally, lord of adorations), at the head of the Apts, established with two horns, beautiful of aspects; the lord of the uræus crown,

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+ I.e., "Divine land," a name frequently given on the monuments to indicate the lands which lie to the south of Egypt between the Nile and the Red Sea.

exalted of plumes, beautiful of tiara, exalted of the white crown ; the serpent meḥen and the two urai are the (ornaments) of his face; the double crown, helmet and cap are his decorations in (his) temple. Beautiful of face

he receives the atef crown

; beloved of the south and

north is he, he is master of the sekhti crown

He receives

the amsu sceptre
the whip. Beautiful prince, rising with the white crown

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lord of rays, creator of light! The gods give acclamations to him, and he stretches out his hands to him that loves him. The flame makes his enemies fall, his eye overthrows the rebels, it thrusts its copper lance into the sky and makes the serpent Nåk* vomit what it has swallowed.

* Nak is one of the names of Apep, the demon of mist, cloud, and night, who was supposed to swallow up the sun daily; he was the enemy, par excellence, whom the Sun-god Rā was supposed to fight against and overcome. Apep was represented under the form of a serpent with knives stuck in his back. Compare the following extract from the service for his destruction which was recited daily in the temple of Amen-Rā, at Thebes: "Fall down upon thy face, Āpep, enemy of Ra! The flame coming forth from the eye of Horus comes against thee, a mighty flame which comes forth from the eye of Horus comes against thee. Thou art thrust down into the flame of fire which rushes out against thee, a flame which is fatal to thy soul, thy intelligence, thy words of power, thy body and thy shade. The flame prevails over thee, it drives darts into thy soul, it makes an end of whatever thou hast, and sends goads into thy form. Thou hast fallen by the eye of Horus, which is mighty over its enemy, which devours thee, and which leads on the mighty flame against thee; the eye of Rā prevails over thee, the flame devours thee, and nothing of thee remains. Get thee back, thou art hacked in pieces, thy soul is parched, thy name is buried in oblivion, silence covers it, it is overthrown; thou art put an end to and buried under threefold oblivion. Get thee back, retreat thou, thou art cut in pieces and removed from him that is in his shrine. O Apep, thou doubly crushed one, an end to thee, an end to thee! Mayest thou never rise up again! The eye of Horus prevails over thee

"Hail to thee, Rã, lord of Law, whose shrine is hidden, master of the gods, the god Kheperà in his boat; by the sending forth of (his) word the gods sprang into existence. Hail god Åtmu, maker of mortals. However many are their forms he causes them to live, he makes different the colour of one man from another. He hears the prayer of him that is oppressed, he is kind of heart to him that calls unto him, he delivers him that is afraid from him that is strong of heart, he judges between the mighty and the weak.

"The lord of intelligence, knowledge (?) is the utterance of his mouth. The Nile cometh by his will, the greatly beloved lord of the palm tree comes to make mortals live. Making advance every work, acting in the sky, he makes to come into existence the sweet things of the daylight; the gods rejoice in his beauties, and their hearts live when they see him. O Rā, adored in the Apts, mighty one of risings in the shrine; O Åni,* lord of the festival of the new moon, who makest the six days' festival and the festival of the last quarter of the moon; O prince, life, health, and strength! lord of all the gods, whose appearances are in the horizon, president of the ancestors of Auker;† his name is hidden from his children in his name ‘Åmen.'

"Hail to thee, O thou who art in peace, lord of dilation of heart (ie., joy), crowned form, lord of the ureret crown, exalted of the plumes, beautiful of tiara, exalted of the white crown, the gods love to look upon thee; the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt is established upon thy brow. Beloved art thou in passing through the two lands.

and devours thee daily, according to that which Rã decreed should be done to thee. Thou art thrown down into the flame of fire which feeds upon thee; thou art condemned to the fire of the eye of Horus which devours thee, thy soul, thy body, thy intelligence and thy shade."— British Museum Papyrus, 10, 188, col. xxiv.

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+ A common nanie for the necropolis of Heliopolis.

Thou sendest forth rays in rising from thy two beautiful eyes. The pat (ancestors, i.e., the dead) are in raptures of delight when thou shinest, the cattle become languid when thou shinest in full strength; thou art loved when thou art in the sky of the south, thou art esteemed pleasant in the sky of the north. Thy beauties seize and carry away all hearts, the love of thee makes the arms drop; thy beautiful creation makes the hands tremble, and (all) hearts to melt at the sight of thee.

"O Form, ONE, creator of all things, O ONE, ONLY, maker of existences! Men came forth from his two eyes, the gods sprang into existence at the utterance of his mouth. He maketh the green herb to make cattle live, and the staff of life for the (use of) man. He maketh the fishes to live in the rivers, the winged fowl in the sky; he giveth the breath of life to (the germ) in the egg, he maketh birds of all kinds to live, and likewise the reptiles that creep and fly; he causeth the rats to live in their holes, and the birds that are on every green twig. Hail to thee, O maker of all these things, thou ONLY ONE.

"He is of many forms in his might! He watches all people who sleep, he seeks the good for his brute creation O Amen, establisher of all things, Åtmu and Harmachis,* all people adore thee, saying, 'Praise to thee because of thy resting among us; homage to thee because thou hast created us.' All creatures say 'Hail to thee,' and all lands praise thee; from the height of the sky, to the breadth of the earth, and to the depths of the sea art thou praised. The gods bow down before thy majesty to exalt the Will of their creator; they rejoice when they meet their begetter, and say to thee, Come in peace, O father of the fathers of all the gods, who hast spread out the sky and hast founded the earth, maker of things which are,

* These three names are the names of the Sun-god at mid-day, evening and morning respectively.

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