fig 25

From the start, the 18^th Dynasty placed itself under the protection or patronage of the god Amun of Karnak, promoted to dynastic god, god of the empire (fig.25).

 

"King of gods and god of kings", Amun saw his role as principal divinity of the land reinforced little by little and now he is amalgamated with the great god Ra, in the form of Amun-Ra. This solarisation of Amun makes the sun the principal form of divinity, whereas the other gods will represent special manifestations at a given time and at a precise place (fig.31).

 

Amun, whose name means "the hidden one", he who has not yet shown himself. He now represents the creator god par excellence; a god who created and re-creates, each day, the world. He is considered more and more as he in whom all things reside [appendix 2].

 

This interpretation, which consists of deriving the many from the one, imposes itself progressively on the dominant classes and the literate- who are growing in numbers. It is typical of the Egyptian tradition and mentality though, at this time, it would nevertheless not enter anybody's mind to wish to obliterate or deny any of the other divine entities!

 

Amun is also the supreme guarantor of rights and morals, whose wish manifests itself in the oracles, especially those given to the faithful who consult him during his processional outings on great feast days.

 

It goes without saying that these speculations were mainly above the heads of the basic faithful and anyway, no attempt at vulgarisation had ever been made to try and explain these concepts to an unfortunate population who had a great many more concrete worries and who confided mainly in the small gods and spirits which watched over their daily life.

 

Nevertheless, in spite of this, Amun is not just an official, distant god. He was able to gain the trust of many Egyptians who made him their personal god, their divine, privileged interlocutor. For at this time, a form of personal piety progressively developed, which Assmann calls the "new theology of divine will", a direct relationship between the man and his god, which had not existed in previous periods. Amun thus becomes he who listens to the one who implores, who can pardon, who can comfort. He is described as "he who gives succour to the humble", "he who gives strength to the unfortunate". One can pray to him, persuade him, he forgives mistakes if one can prove an irreproachable behaviour, if one has, as the texts say, "followed the way of Maat".

 

This is what religious historian Francoise Dumand says:

The Pharaonic Egyptian religious system implies the multiplicity of divine forms, the god who is addressed being often considered at that moment as "the unique one" in the sense that all others give way before him. The others, however, are not denied; the faithful turns to the one who is closest to him, the god of his village, he under whose protection his patents placed him by choosing his name...

A word is now necessary concerning the little goddess Maat.(fig. 29)

 

Maat is the basis for understanding the Egyptian religious system and society. Maat is the organised world, stability, justice that reigns. Maat is the balance between the antagonistic forces that govern the world.

 

The role of the king is to cause Maat to reign over the world. The supreme offering that the king makes to the gods is that of a figurine of this goddess. By this offering, the king indicates that, thanks to his personal action, aided by those of men, the terrestrial world conforms to that which they, the gods, demand. It is now their turn to act for men in exchange.

 

It is this reciprocity that is fundamental in all of the Egyptian religion and upon which rests the continuity of the world.

 

Note here something very important for what follows: In the traditional concept, the king causes Maat to reign over the world but he is not Maat.

 

Parallel to the rise of the god Amun, the temporal power of his clergy was considerably heightened, together with their political power. For evidence, we only need to look at the magnificence of the great temple of Karnak where each sovereign's desire was to leave his mark in architectural works.

 

In addition, the will of Amun, as we said, was expressed by means of oracles. Oracles conveyed by the priests, of course! These oracles even permitted, on occasion, certain sovereigns whose legitimacy was uncertain to accede to the throne (for example, Queen Hatshepsut).

 

Indeed, this power of the god and his clergy manifested itself very clearly in the appearance of the notion of theogamy. The pharaoh no longer appears as the son of his father and mother but as the son of his mother and of Amun, incarnated as his father. By this process of theogamy he thus reinforces his divine filiation and his traditional rôle as the guarantor of Maat.

 

By the subterfuge of the oracles, the god or his clergy could approve or censure the behaviour of individuals but there existed the danger that he might do the same concerning royal behaviour. This menace seems to have been unacceptable to Akhenaton, as we shall see.

 

Thus we witness in this period a consecration of the god Amun-Ra and, in parallel, a revival of the solar cults and devotion, especially within the royal family. It is in this context of a triumphant god Amun that the god Aten will make his appearance.