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In Egyptian
mythology, Amunet (also spelled
Amonet, Amaunet, Amentet, Amentit, Imentet,
Imentit, and Ament) was originally the female
form of the originally androgynous god Amun.
Amun/Amunet was originally the deification
of the primordial concept of air, in the
Ogdoad
cosmogony, Amun's name meaning (one who)
is hidden, and Amunet's simply being the
female form. Like all females in the Ogdoad,
Amunet was depicted either as a snake or
as a snake-headed woman.
When Amun became regarded with greater
importance, and his identity increasingly
overlapped with that of Atum, Amaunet,
as his female form, became increasingly
identified with Iusaaset, Atum's shadow.
By becoming identified as Iusaaset, Amaunet
was regarded as the mother of creation,
and was seen as owning the tree from which
life emerged. The androgeneity of Amun/Amaunet
lead to Amaunet being said to be the mother
who is father. The name hidden one was
also sometimes used to refer to the underworld,
and so Amaunet grew increasingly associated
with providing a welcome to the newly
dead, since the tree she was associated
with was said to be near Heliopolis, the
place that bread was provided for the
surrounding population, during winter.
As Amun was increasingly identified as
a significant god, rather than mere concept,
so Amaunet became increasingly identified
as a distinct female goddess, eventually
being said to be Amun's wife. As Amaunet
still was the goddess of air, she was
sometimes depicted as a winged goddess,
or as a woman with a hawk, or ostrich
feather, on her head. When she was later
displaced as Amun's consort by Mut,
she was said, as representing the air,
to have become the lesbian consort of
Iabet, the moon itself, and was depicted
as such on tombs, coffins, and sarcophagi.
Gods
and Goddesses Menu
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