<h1> Secrets of the Hidden one </h1>

 

In Egyptian mythology, Amaunet (also spelled Amonet, Amaunet, Amentet, Amentit, Imentet, Imentit, and Ament) was a deity having several different characteristics during the long history of the pantheon of Ancient Egypt.

Amaunet's name is the feminine version of Amun's, and as such, She is believed to be the female form of the greater god Amun and is one of the eight featured deities in the Ogdoad (consisting of four pairs where the woman’s name is a derivative of that of the husband). However, she seems to be at least as old as He. Both gods were depicted as independent deities and identified as a pair. Her name means a female who is hidden and her powers are connected to the words silence, stillness, mystery and obscurity. According to some myths Amunet was the daughter of Horus and Hathor. She was also sometimes merged with Hathor, Isis and Neith, Mut, and Nut.

Amunet and her male counterpart Amun were the two aspects of the primordial concept of air and invisibility in the Ogdoad cosmogony. This included eight deities worshipped as pairs in Hermopolis during what is called the Old Kingdom, the third through sixth dynasties, extending from 2,686 B.C. to 2,134 B.C. Of the name for primordial air meaning, (one who) is hidden. The first mention of either Deity is as a pair, in a Pyramid Text dating to around 2350-2345 BCE, during the Egyptian Old Kingdom's Fifth Dynasty. The "Pyramid Texts" is the name given to a series of spells carved on the walls of the burial chamber of pyramids (natch) which were believed to protect the dead King and help him make his way through the afterlife. The texts (and the Gods mentioned) are likely older than the Fifth Dynasty, for the spells appear as it were fully formed, and include language that was archaic for the time. Amunet (and Amun) in these spells were regarded as protective Deities: They are adressed as "Amun and Amaunet, You Who protect the Gods, and Who guard the Gods with Your shadows". Though Nun and Naunet are described in a similar manner, it seems especially appropriate for Amun and Amaunet, Who both represent the mysterious and invisible hidden forces of nature, to give protection through their shadows; implicit in the idea of a shadow is that things can be hidden there.

In the creation myth of Khmun, the primeval flood or ocean was made up of four elements, personified as balanced pairs of male and female Deities: Infinity (or Formlessness), represented by the god Heh and the goddess Hauhet; Darkness, by the god Kek and the goddess Kauket; Water, by the god Nun and the goddess Naunet; and Air or Hidden Power, personified by the god Amun and the goddess Amunet. These eight Deities swirled in and among the primordial floodwaters until they came together in a burst of flame to create the first mound of earth, called the Isle of Fire. The Scribe-God of wisdom and the moon, Djehuty (Thoth) then landed on the island in the form of an ibis and laid an egg from which the Sun hatched, and Time began. Seven of the eight Deities then left to live in the Underworld, but Amun stayed behind in the land of the living. According to the people of Khmun, their version of the creation myth was supposed to be the oldest one, and Khmun was said to be the very location of the ancient Isle of Fire. As with all goddesses in the Ogdoad, Amunet was depicted either as an Egyptian cobra snake, or as a snake-headed woman. The male deities in the Ogdoad generally were depicted with the head of a frog. Amunet started as one of the androgynous goddess and said to be "the mother who is father", implying that she was a creator who needed no male to procreate, reproducing asexually through parthenogenesis. The Egyptians thought that animals without sexual dimorphism, such as snakes, were all female. She likewise acquired a familiar association (even leading to as role as lesbian consort in some stories) with the moon Iah making her a goddess of the tomb, sarcophagus, and coffins.

Although predominantly known as the goddess of the air and invisibility ,her role has changed in personification over the duration of the dynasties of Egypt. she sometimes was depicted as a winged goddess, or as a woman with a hawk, or ostrich feather, on her head. She also is depicted with one of the hieroglyphs for the concept "West" on her head, on which the hawk or ostrich feather rests. Her name means "She of the West", as she is regarded as a personification of the direction West. sometimes the Goddesses' feet were replaced with the heads of jackals. The Gods of the Ogdoad were shown with frogs' heads: both the snake and frog are associated with the Underworld, water, and transformation; and jackals additionally are linked with the dead or Underworld. These eight Deities were sometimes shown in baboon-form, much like Djehuty sometimes was.

The alternative spelling names Amentet or Imentit sometimes were used to refer to her role in the underworld, where the goddess provided a welcome to the newly dead. In Ancient Egypt, the West is the where the dead enter the underworld and Amunet is believed to be as the goddess who welcomes their entrance into the Kingdom of Osiris. References to the west also relate to the place where the dead enter the underworld, relating to her role as a funerary goddess. She was associated with an acacia tree that was said to be near Heliopolis, where bread was provided for the surrounding population during winter when their food supplies were limited.

By becoming identified as Iusaaset, Amunet was regarded as the mother of creation and she was seen as owning the tree from which all life emerged and returned, the tree of life, an acacia tree said to be located on the desert's edge to the west of Egypt at Heliopolis. Its strength, hardiness, medical properties, and edibility resulted in the acacia tree being considered the tree of life. What was thought to be the oldest acacia tree in existence, the one which was situated close to, and north of, Heliopolis was said to be the tree of life. Its location was said to be the birthplace of all of the deities. Thus, as the mother, and grandmother, of the deities, Iusaaset was said

Over the years, she became increasingly associated with Iusaaset, a shadow of Atum. This made her the mother of all creation who owns the tree from which life emerged and returns (the most ancient acacia tree believed to be found in Heliopolis, the city where all deities were born). She is sometimes shown as a woman with a scepter and the ankh of life in her hand. Euphemisms were used frequently to name deities in Ancient Egypt, to avoid divulging the sacred name of a deity to the uninitiated and to avoid unauthorized uses of the name. 

References:

Wikiwand Amunet. Available at: https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Amunet

Wikipedia Amunet. Available at: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amunet

Symbolsage Amunet Goddess Egyptian Mythology. Available at: https://symbolsage.com/amunet-goddess-egyptian-mythology

Crystalink Amunet. Available at: https://www.crystalinks.com/amunet.html.