Amenwah (fl. 12th century b. c.e.) Tomb robber of the Twentieth Dynasty
Amenwah reportedly invaded the tomb of ramesses iii (r. 1194-1163 b. c.e.). The desecration came in a troubled era following the pharaoh’s death, in which temple priests and entire villages plundered gravesites. Amenwah was associated with deir el-medina, an ancient village housing artisans who worked in the tombs in the valley of THE KINGS on the western shore of the Nile at thebes. He was rounded up in a sweeping raid on tomb robbers of that era. pleading innocent to all charges brought against him, he was eventually released for lack of evidence. Modern excavations of Amenwah’s tomb established his guilt. He not only robbed Ramesses iii’s tomb but also placed his ill-gotten goods in his own burial chamber for all eternity.
See also tomb robbery trial.
Ames The ancient Egyptian name for the scepter in the form of a club or mace that was used as a royal insignia in most eras, the ames dates back to the early period of Egypt (c. 3000 B. C.E.), when the warriors of the south invaded the Delta, subduing the Bee King’s armies and unifying the nation. The kings maintained the insignias of ancient times and incorporated them into the newer rituals of office.
Ital at Meri, modern Tell al-Hariri, Syria, and at Halab, now called Aleppo. The region called Amurru was located in northern Palestine and in the Syrian desert region. Inscriptions from the era of Egypt’s First Intermediate Period (2134-2040 b. c.e.) indicate that the Amor-ites controlled Phoenicia, modern Lebanon, disrupting TRADE with Egypt. AMENEMHET I (r. 1991-1962 B. C.E.) restored such trade during his reign.
Amestris (fl. fifth century b. c.e.) Royal woman of the Persian Empire
She was the consort of xerxes i and the mother of arta-XERXES I (r. 465-424 b. c.e.). Her husband was murdered, but she remained strong and dominated the first years of her son’s reign.
Amethyst A semiprecious stone, a variety of quartz, usually lavender or purple in color, these stones were discovered in the southern desert regions of Egypt and were highly prized.
See also Egyptian natural resources.
Amherst Papyrus This was a document from thebes that contained an account of the Ramessid-Period tomb ROBBERY TRIALS. With the ABBOTT PAPYRUS, which includes an account of the same event, this text provides detailed information and insight into the Twentieth Dynasty (1196-1070 B. C.E.), a period of declining royal authority and law and order in the Nile Valley. The Amherst Papyrus was owned originally by the first baron Amherst of Hockney, England, and consisted of the lower half of a document concerning Twentieth Dynasty robberies. The upper portion of the papyrus, now called the Leopold II Papyrus, was discovered in Brussels. The two sections were joined by scholars and photographed for translation purposes.
Ami-ut A dog-headed deity of ancient Egypt, concerned with funerary elements, he was probably a forerunner of OSIRIS and became overshadowed by that deity A headless bull’s skin attached to a rod was the symbol of Ami-ut, an insignia used in some funerary rituals.
See also tekenu.
Amorites An ancient Semitic people called the Amurru or Martu in records from Sumeria, they dominated the region of Mesopotamia, Syria, and Palestine from c. 2000 to c. 1600 B. C.E., bringing them into conflict with Egypt. Their homeland is believed to have been Arabia, and they are credited with bringing the fall of the city of ur.
The Amorites migrated into the region in the 21st century b. c.e., assimilating to the Sumerian-Akkadian culture in time. Almost all of the kings of Babylon could trace their ancestry to this stock. The Amorites had a cap-
Amratian The name given to the first Predynastic Period, nagada i, this phase was centered in el-’Amirah, near abydos, in Upper Egypt. Sites dating to c. 3600 B. C.E. give evidence of Badarian (a prior phase) influences, improved and adapted to advance techniques. The pottery from this Amratian period includes black topped red ocher ware, with linear designs in white, including figures. maceheads, vases, and ivory carving were also recovered from Amratian sites.
See also EGYPT.
Amtes (Yamtes) (fl. 23rd century b. c.e.) Royal woman of the Sixth Dynasty
She was a consort of pepi i (r. 2289-2555 b. c.e.). Some records indicate that Amtes was involved in a harem (1) plot to overthrow Pepi I. The conspiracy was unsuccessful, and an official named weni was called upon to investigate the charges against Amtes and her fellow conspirators. No record is available to give an account of the verdict of the trial, but she disappeared from the court as a result.
Amulet This was a decoratively carved item that was worn by ancient Egyptians in keeping with their religious traditions. called the wedjau, such an amulet was normally fashioned out of metal, wood, faience, terra-cotta, or stone and was believed to contain magical powers, providing the wearer with supernatural benefits and charms. The potential power of the amulet was determined by the material, color, shape, or spell of its origin. Living Egyptians wore amulets as pendants, and the deceased had amulets placed in their linen wrappings in their coffins. Various styles of amulets were employed at different times for different purposes. Some were carved as sacred symbols in order to demonstrate devotion to a particular deity, thus ensuring the god’s intercession and intervention on behalf of the wearer.
The DJED, for example, was the symbol of stability that was associated with the god OSIRIS. This was normally worn on the chest, on a cord or necklace. The amulet was placed on the neck of the deceased, in order to protect that part of the anatomy in the afterlife. The djed was normally fashioned out of glazed faience, gold, gilded wood, lapis lazuli, or some other semiprecious stone. The djed as a national symbol was used in festivals and celebrations.
The ANKH, the eye of re, the Amulet of the Heart, the PAPYRUS SCEPTER, and images of the vulture were popular among the faithful. The favored amulet, however, appears to be the scarab, the sacred beetle symbol that represented all of the mystical connotations of the solar cults and eternal life. The scarabs were normally fashioned out of stone, wood, metal, schist, steatite, and bronze (discovered in a Twentieth Dynasty site), and could be small in size or large.
The BOOK OF THE DEAD, the mortuary text used throughout Egypt’s later eras, contained a list of amulets required for the proper preparation of a corpse. One amulet placed in almost every mummy was the djed. The scarab and other amulets were placed according to tradition and fashioned out of specific materials, colored red or green normally. Incanted with spells these symbols supposedly were inspired by the god thoth in her-MOPOLIS in the Old Kingdom (2575-2134 B. C.E.).
See also magic.
Amun (Amon) A god of ancient Egypt known in early eras but attaining dominance in the New Kingdom at THEBES, Amun, whose name means “hidden,” figured in the Hermopolitan myths associated with the dynamic force of life. The deity and his female counterpart, AMAUNET, were mentioned in the pyramid texts in the Fifth Dynasty (2465-2323 b. c.e.) and Sixth Dynasty (2323-2150 B. C.E.). The first evidence locating the god in Thebes is an inscription of the nomarch Rehuy, also of the Sixth Dynasty, who claimed to have performed services for Amun.
When the Thebans began to exert influence over Egypt’s political scene, Amun’s cult started its ascendancy. During the New Kingdom (1550-1070 b. c.e.) the god was elevated in status and infused with many attributes of other divine beings. Amun was declared to have given birth to himself, and it was stressed that no other gods had such power. All of the other deities in Egypt’s pantheon traced their being to his self-creation. Amun was included in the ogdoad of hermopolis, then at the PRIMEVAL MOUND of MEMPHIS, at which time he was supposed to have formed all the other gods. He then left the earth to abide as re in the heavens, taking the form of a divine child revealed in the lotus.
In statues, Amun was normally depicted as a handsome, virile young man or as a ram with curled horns. The rulers of the New Kingdom carried his banners everywhere in their establishment of the empire, and the temple in Thebes received tributes from many lands. Amun was “the Greatest of Heaven, Eldest of Earth,” and the priests of his temple wrote tender hymns in his honor.
The generosity of ’ahmose (r. 1550-1525 b. c.e.), who made donations to the temple of Amun in thanksgiving for his victories, set a pattern in the New Kingdom, and the god was showered with gifts by ’Ahmose’s successors.
Both the temples at karnak and luxor benefited from royal patronage. In time, Amun was revered throughout Egypt, as the Amunite priests assumed more and more political control. In some historical periods, the deity was addressed as Amun-Re. A shrine was erected for Amun in the SIWA OASIS, which was later called Jupiter Ammon by the Romans, and pilgrimages were undertaken in every era to worship the god there.
At Thebes, Amun was provided with a consort, the goddess MUT, and with a son, khons (1) or Khonsu. The ram, the symbol of the god’s true spiritual power, was kept at Thebes for religious ceremonies, embodying the energies of the deity and his beauty During the ’amarna Period the temples of Amun were attacked and closed by order of akhenaten (r. 1353-1335 b. c.e.). When tut’ankhamun came to the throne in 1333 b. c.e., he restored the god’s primacy over Egypt. This restoration of Amun as the paramount deity of Egypt was calculated to appease the priests of Amun and to settle the unrest caused in the land by the heretical actions of Akhenaten.
Many festivals were celebrated in honor of Amun. One of these, the “Beautiful Feast of the Valley,” was especially popular. The god’s statue was taken across the Nile to the western shore of Thebes, where people waited to greet the retinue of priests and devotees. Ritual meals and mortuary offerings were set before the tombs of the dead, while people held picnics in the various mortuary chambers and courts. Amun’s priests visited each tomb or grave site, and special Bouquets of the God were placed at the tombs as mementos. Singers and dancers, accompanied by lively bands, followed the priests and conducted rituals. The festivals of Amun were popular throughout Egypt in the New Kingdom.
Suggested Readings: Ashby, Muata Abhaya. The Hymns of Amun: Ancient Egyptian Mystical Psychology. New York: Cruzian Mystic, 1997; Assman, Jan, and Anthony Alcock, trans. Egyptian Solar Religion in the New Kingdom: RE, Amun and the Crisis of Polytheism. New York: Routledge, 1995.
Amun-dyek’het (fl. seventh century b. c.e.) Queen of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty enslaved by the Persians The consort of taharqa (r. 690-664 b. c.e.), she fell into the hands of essarhaddon of Assyria when he invaded Egypt in 671 b. c.e. Taharqa had been routed by Assyrian forces and had fled southward. Taharqa’s son and heir, USHANAHURU, as well as the consort, Queen Amun-dyek-’het, and the entire court were taken by Essarhaddon to his capital at nineveh as slaves and were never seen again in Egypt.
Amunemhet (1) (fl. 16th century b. c.e.) Infant prince of the Eighteenth Dynasty
He was the son of amenhotep i (r. 1525-1504 b. c.e.) and Queen ah’hotep (2). His body was discovered in deir el-
BAHRI, having been rewrapped and reburied by priests of the Twentieth Dynasty, when his original tomb was plundered. The child died in the first or second year of his life.
Amunemhet (2) (fl. 15th century b. c.e.) Temple official of the Eighteenth Dynasty
Serving in the reign of amenhotep ii (r. 1427-1401 B. C.E.), Amunemhet was a high priest of the god amun but served the court in other capacities as well, as did most of the Amunite priests of that period. Amunemhet was an accomplished architect and supervised royal building projects. He was buried in thebes.
Amunet (Amuniet) (fl. 21st century b. c.e.) Royal woman of the Eleventh Dynasty
She was a consort of montuhotep ii (r. 2061-2010 B. C.E.), called Amuniet in some records. Amunet was buried in the royal mortuary complex at deir el-bahri, a site located on the western shore of the Nile at thebes. Montuhotep and his other female companions were entombed beside Amunet.
Amunnakhte’s Instructions A text written by a scribe of the per ankh, the House of Life, a medical educational institute in thebes. Amunnakhte’s Instructions date to the Eighteenth Dynasty (1550-1070 B. C.E.). A copy of the original was discovered in the Chester beatty papyrus iv. The Instructions were addressed to an assistant, urging the young man to take up the noble profession of scribe, an important position in Egyptian society. The Egyptians revered such didactic LITERATURE, seeking wisdom and purpose in texts that explained the roles of life and the opportunities of
Amun’s Bark A vessel called Userhetamun, or “the Mighty Brow Is Amun,” a floating temple for the god Amun at thebes, the bark was supposedly a gift presented by ’ahmose (r. 1550-1525 b. c.e.) in thanksgiving for his successful military campaigns. The vessel was a divine ark, and special stations of the gods were erected throughout Thebes to greet it on its holiday rounds. The bark was viewed as a potent symbol of Amun’s power and was refurbished or rebuilt in almost every era of the empire period. On the feast of opet, the Bark of Amun was moved from karnak to luxor and back. On other feasts the floating temple sailed on the Nile or on the sacred lake of the shrine. It was covered with gold from the waterline up and filled with cabins, obelisks, niches, and elaborate adornments.
See also barks of the gods.
Amun’s Wives A title assumed by high-ranking royal women who took part in religious ceremonies at karnak and LUXOR during the New Kingdom, Queens ah’hotep (1) and ’ahmose-nefertari in the reign of ’ahmose (1550-1525 B. C.E.) were the first such women to assume the role, serving as patronesses for the festivals and cultic rites. A princess of the royal house was consecrated as the god’s spouse, served by virgins in the Harem of Amun. In time this group became the god’s wives of amun, or the Divine Adoratrices of Amun.
Amun-wosret (15th century b. c.e.) Vizier of the Eighteenth Dynasty
He served tuthmosis iii (r. 1479-1425 b. c.e.) and was active in the latter part of Tuthmosis Ill’s lengthy reign, named vizier of Egypt. Amun-wosret served in a time of imperial expansion and military campaigns. His Theban tomb provides details of his office.
Amyrtaios (1) (fl. fifth century b. c.e.) Rebel Egyptian who fought against the Persian occupation of the Nile He is associated in some records with the revolt of an individual named inaros, who threatened the rule of the Persian artaxerxes i (r. 465-424 b. c.e.). When inaros was betrayed, captured, and executed, Amyr-taios continued to hold sway in the western delta, unchallenged by the persians. No documentation is available concerning his length of supremacy in this region.
See also rebels of Egypt.
Amyrtaios (2) (d. 393 b. c.e.) Founder and sole known ruler of the Twenty-eighth Dynasty of Egypt Amyrtaios reigned from SAIS originally and then over much of the entire nation from 404 to 393 b. c.e. He probably proclaimed himself pharaoh after the death of DARIUS II in 404 b. c.e. He was possibly a descendant of AMYRTAIOS (1), a rebel of the land. Amyrtaios was the prince of sais. No documented successors are recorded. One tradition states that Amyrtaios offended “the Law” in some heinous fashion, and because of his transgression could not bequeath the throne to his son. The dynasty ended with his death. other dynasties flourished in the same era on local levels. Reportedly NEPHRITES I (r. 399-393 b. c.e.) captured Amyrtaios and executed him.
Amytis (fl. sixth century b. c.e.) Royal woman of the Persian Empire
She was a consort of Cyrus the Great and probably the mother of cambyses (r. 525-522 b. c.e.). Amytis shared her queenly duties at the persian court with another royal woman, Kassandine.
Ana (fl. 18th century b. c.e.) Royal woman of the Thirteenth Dynasty
She was a consort of sobekhotep iii (r. c. 1745 b. c.e.). Ana is listed in some records as the mother of Princesses Ankhetitat and Fent-Ankhnet. The rulers and the consorts of this dynasty remain obscure.
Anastasi Papyri This is a collection of Egyptian documents collected from various sources by the Swedish consul to Egypt. This diplomat was on the Nile during the time when extensive exploration was beginning in the ruins of the ancient civilized areas. Some of the papyri date to the Ramessid Period (1307-1070 b. c.e.) and contain hymns to the god amun and accounts from that era of Egyptian history.
Anath (Anat) A goddess of the Canaanites, patroness of both love and war, Anath, always depicted as a beautiful young woman and called “the Virgin,” was the sister of the Semitic god Baal. Anath was honored as a goddess of war and military campaigns and was adopted by RAMESSES II (r. 1290-1224 b. c.e.) as one of his patrons. In Egypt, Anath was portrayed nude, standing on a lion and carrying flowers. In the Ptolemaic Period (304-30 b. c.e.) Anath was merged with astarte, assuming the name Astargatis. In other eras she was given reshef and Baal as consorts in rituals.
Anather (d. c. 1600 b. c.e.) Ruler of the Sixteenth Dynasty, a lesser Hyksos line
His dynasty was contemporary with the Great hyksos of the Fifteenth Dynasty at avaris (c. 1640-1532 b. c.e.). Anather was called “the Ruler of the Desert Lands.” SCARABS bearing his name were found in the Delta region and in southern Palestine.
Anatolians A people living in the lands now called Turkey, the Anatolians built many ancient cities, including Hacilar, which dates to 5400 b. c.e. By 2600 b. c.e., the Anatolians were trading their metal wares across many lands, probably going as far south as Egypt on trade tours.
Ancestor cult letters Messages written on clay vessels, strips of linen, or stelae and left in or near tombs, these letters were of two types: friendly, or designed to placate the dead to avoid hauntings. The first type of letters inquired about life “in the West,” the land beyond the grave. They also asked for intercessions from the deceased, who were requested to act as patrons in legel procedures on earth or in the judgment courts of the dead. The second asked the dead to rest in peace.
Some ancestors addressed by the ancestor cult letters were called the akh-iker-en-Re, “the excellent spirit
(departed) of Re.” Shrines were erected in households in the New Kingdom Period (1550-1070 b. c.e.), and offerings were made to the akh-iker-en-Re. Some clay figures of these spirits were used in later eras, and an industry emerged for their manufacture. A cache of 17,000 such figures was found in karnak.
See also ancestor worship
Ancestor worship A cultic tradition of Egypt, associated with the gods OSIRIS and Re, the dead ancestors were called the akh-iker-en-Re, “the excellent spirit (departed) of Re” and were the deceased parents of a nonroyal family In the New Kingdom (1550-1070 b. c.e.) such worship ceremonies employed busts and stelae commemorating the akh-iker-en-Re. Some 150 red effigies made out of stone were found in deir el-medina, the artisan enclave near the valley of the kings at Thebes. Some 55 stelae were also recovered there. The akh-iker-en-Re traveled endlessly in the bark of Re and were sometimes portrayed as the rays of the sun in commemo-ratives. offerings and prayers were provided for these ancestors at their tombs.
Andjeti He was a very ancient deity of Egypt who was absorbed into the cult of OSIRIS. A shepherd god originally, Andjeti’s symbol was the crook, called the AWET, and used as a royal insignia of the pharaohs, along with the flail.
Andreas (fl. 3rd century b. c.e.) Medical official of the Ptolemaic Period
He served as court physician to ptolemy iv philometor (r. 221-205 b. c.e.). Andreas was skilled in pharmaceuticals and tried to direct the physicians of his era to divorce themselves from the magical or superstitious traditions of the past. He wrote books on the pharmaceuticals available and the effect of serpent bites, but these survive only in fragmented forms.
See also medicine.
World History
