Amun in Egyptian tradition
Amun is the Egyptian Hidden One who brings himself into being and sets creation in motion. As a member of the primordial Ogdoad, he is linked with the dark waters and the forces of primeval matter, while in another account he appears as the Great Shrieker, a primeval goose whose cry begins creation. He became chief god of Thebes and was later united with the sun god Ra as Amun-Ra.
The quick answers
Who is Amun?
Amun is an Egyptian deity associated with air and wind, fertility and regeneration, kingship and pharaonic authority, creation and cosmic order, Thebes and its chief temple.Source
Source
- Handbook of Egyptian Mythology
- Essential Visual History of World Mythology
- Creation Myths of the World: Parts I-II
- Egyptian Mythology
What is Amun the god of?
air and wind, fertility and regeneration, kingship and pharaonic authority, creation and cosmic order, Thebes and its chief templeSource
Source
- Handbook of Egyptian Mythology
- Essential Visual History of World Mythology
- Creation Myths of the World: Parts I-II
- Egyptian Mythology
What family links are recorded for Amun?
Father: Nun, Spouse: Mut, 2 children.
Amun’s family, at a glance
Parents above, children below, and the figure’s consorts named in between, the same family data as the fact box, laid out as a chart instead of a field list.
The names Amun answers to
Amun-Re
Amun united with the sun god Re
SourceCreation Myths of the World: Parts I-II
The Hidden One
The god whose nature is concealed or unseen
SourceCreation Myths of the World: Parts I-II
Lord of the Thrones of the Two Lands
Divine lord of Upper and Lower Egypt
SourceHandbook of Egyptian Mythology
Bull of His Mother
A regenerative and fertility-oriented title
SourceHandbook of Egyptian Mythology
The myths of Amun
4 myths, each traced to its primary text and corpus sources.
Amun Creates Himself
Amun brought himself into being before the other gods appeared. No father or mother preceded him, and no other god created him. He remained hidden and invisible, and he was born in secret. His first creative act set creation in motion. After that act, the other gods came into being. Amun then took successive forms as his creative work continued.
His first form was the Ogdoad of Hermopolis, the group of eight primeval deities. Amun belonged to this group with his female counterpart, Amunet. His next form was Tatenen, the primeval mound of Memphis. In this form, he created the first gods. The Ogdoad therefore formed part of Amun’s own creative activity, rather than existing apart from it.
The first dry hill then rose, and Thebes stood at its centre. The city was called the Eye of Ra, and it watched over the other cities as the Eye of Atum watched over Shu and Tefnut in the waters of Nun. Amun created humans so that they could found further cities after the pattern of Thebes. In one Hermopolitan belief, Amun later left the earth and dwelt in heaven as Ra. The Theban telling treated the Ogdoad, Tatenen, and his other forms as phases of the same hidden creator’s work.
In the modern world
No modern rework confirmed yet.
2 sources· checked 2026-08-19
- 1Egyptian MythologyT1
- 2the ancient sourcesT1
Quote
“Amun has no parent or creator, brings himself into existence, and assumes successive forms through which the gods, the first mound, Thebes, and the ordered world come into being.”
the ancient sources
Amun in the Primordial Ogdoad
The eight already existed in the gloomy waters of the original universal ocean. No creator had made them. They formed the Ogdoad of Khemenu, later called Hermopolis. Amun and his female counterpart, Amunet, embodied hidden power among them. The other pairs embodied darkness, moisture, lack of boundaries, and lack of visible form.
The Ogdoad took animal and human forms. The males had frog or jackal heads, while the females had snake heads. In their amphibian and serpent forms, they came together in the primeval waters. Their activity stirred the dark, fertile slime. They joined to form the Primeval Mound, the Island of Flame, the Primeval Lotus, or the Cosmic Egg.
In one telling, Amun fertilised the cosmic egg. In another, the eight received the seed of the serpent Amun Kem-atef, the first primeval god who gave birth to the primeval gods. The egg or mound then brought forth the creator sun god. The first light appeared, and the ordered cosmos began to form. The Ogdoad became the fathers and mothers of life, while Amun remained the hidden force that began movement towards independent life.
After they brought forth life, the primeval gods changed or died. The Primeval Mound became both the place of creation and the tomb of the Ogdoad. In Theban theology, Amun also became self-created, invisible, and born in secret. The Ogdoad became his first form and an aspect of his creative activity.
In the modern world
No modern rework confirmed yet.
3 sources· checked 2026-08-19
- 1Handbook of Egyptian MythologyT1
- 2the ancient sourcesT1
Quote
“The Ogdoad inhabit the primeval waters, stir the forces of creation, and bring forth the egg, mound, lotus, or flame from which the creator sun and life emerge.”
the ancient sources
- 3Magic in Ancient Egypt *ISBN 0292765592*T1
Amun as the Primeval Goose
A cry broke the silence over the primeval waters. Amun took the form of a great goose known as the Great Shrieker. His victory shout was the first sound heard in the world, and it began creation.
The goose laid the world egg on the primeval mound. The mound rose from the waters of Nun and was linked with the Isle of Flames, the place of the first formation of the cosmos. In one telling, the egg contained Ra, the bird of light, who emerged as the creator of the world. In another, the egg contained air, in keeping with the creation account of the Ogdoad, the eight primeval deities of Hermopolis.
Amun belonged to the primeval state of the Hermopolitan creation story, in which the Ogdoad existed within the dark and formless waters. He also took the separate creative form of the goose whose cry opened the silence. Medinet Habu in western Thebes was sometimes identified as the place of this first event. The first sound, the egg, the mound, and the emergence of the light-bearing creator marked the passage from the unformed waters to the ordered world.
In the modern world
No modern rework confirmed yet.
3 sources· checked 2026-08-19
- 1Handbook of Egyptian MythologyT1
- 2Handbook of Egyptian MythologyT1
- 3the ancient sourcesT1
Quote
“As the Great Shrieker, Amun gives the first cry, lays the world egg on the primeval mound, and brings forth Ra, or air, as creation begins.”
the ancient sources
Amun Fathers Hatshepsut
Amun took the form of Thutmose II and went to Queen Ahmose. He approached her in the form of her husband and slept with her. She conceived Hatshepsut, who would become the future ruler. In this telling, Amun fathered the child through his union with Ahmose.
In another telling, Amun approached Ahmose in his divine form and barely touched her hand. The encounter still made him the divine father of Hatshepsut. Amun-Ra ordered Khnum to fashion the child’s body and ka. Khnum shaped them and gave the body its great beauty. Amun-Ra then implanted the body and ka in Ahmose.
When Ahmose gave birth, deities surrounded her and the newborn Hatshepsut. They nursed and protected the child and her ka, the spirit-double joined to her life. Birth deities attended the delivery. Heket gave life to the bodies of rulers made by Khnum, and Meshkent predicted a glorious future of wealth and power for Hatshepsut.
The divine parentage established Hatshepsut’s place as a ruler. Amun fathered her, while Khnum fashioned her body and ka, and the attending deities guarded and nourished her at birth.
In the modern world
No modern rework confirmed yet.
2 sources· checked 2026-08-19
- 1Handbook of Egyptian MythologyT1
- 2the ancient sourcesT1
Quote
“Amun takes Thutmose II’s form, unites with Ahmose, and fathers Hatshepsut, whose birth is attended by deities who nurse and protect her and her ka.”
the ancient sources
14 works catalogued
This is the candidate catalogue for Amun: candidate reworks first, then references, then names used as atmosphere. Nothing here has been checked against a source yet. Only reviewed myth-to-work links are promoted in Overview.
Showing 14 of 14 works.
Film6
- The Twilight SagaRework
- Egypt's Tombs of AmunReference
- JosephReference
- La Reine SoleilReference
- Beware the Eye of Amun-RaName only
- The Mirror of Amun-RaName only
Television2
- TutRework
- Ramez Ankh AmunName only
Game2
- Luxor Amun Rising HDName only
- Luxor: Amun RisingName only
Book3
- Egyptian Mythology: A Guide to the Gods, Goddesses, and Traditions of ancient EgyptReference
- Ramesside Inscriptions, Translated and Annotated Translations: Ramesses II, His ContemporariesReference
- Desert OathReference
cross-media1
- The EgyptianReference
These are catalogue candidates, not proof that every work retells this figure. Reviewed myth-to-work links appear in Overview.
What this page is built from
About this page
Written and maintained by MythSource. Last reviewed not yet recorded. How a page gets built.
4 sources are cited on this page, primary texts and corpus scholarship, listed below.
Cite this page
MythSource. (n.d.). Amun. https://www.mythsource.com/figures/amun
"Amun." MythSource, n.d., www.mythsource.com/figures/amun.
"Amun." MythSource. n.d. https://www.mythsource.com/figures/amun.
The mythology summaries and identity fields on this page are grounded in the primary texts and scholarship above. The appearance table records candidates separately; only reviewed joins are presented as modern reworks in Overview.
The film
The Underdrawing video on Amun embeds here once it publishes.