Word: amun
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...temple dug into a 300-ft.-high hill known today as Jebel Barkal. It was there, Kendall thinks, that rulers in the ancient Nubian kingdom of Napata and Meroe, which dated from 900 B.C. to A.D. 350, practiced their coronation rites, climaxing in a crowning by the god Amun...
...Egyptians chose this particular craggy hill for a royal sanctuary because, when seen from a distance, Jebel Barkal's silhouette resembles, even today, a crown adorned with a cobra, which is a symbol of royal power. The Egyptians believed Jebel Barkal to be a prime residence of the god Amun, the bestower of royal authority--a notion that was later taken up by the Nubians. About 730 B.C., when the Nubians rose up and conquered Egypt, establishing what became known as Egypt's 25th dynasty, they drew on the authority granted by Amun at Jebel Barkal to justify their rule...
...first this argument seems logical and demagogically appealing. A dialectical look, however, reveals its utter hypocrisy. The Great Hall is not the only example of a redundant monument to a defunct, "oppressive" culture. Another excellent example of such a work is the Temple of Amun-Ra at Karnak, Egypt. While ancient Egypt is very much the culture du jour, those of us who appreciated this civilization long before it was fashionable to do so realize that, like turn-of-the-century America, it had many not-so admirable aspects. For 2,000 years, the Egyptian Pharaohs and High Priests poured...