Amun (also spelled Amon, Amoun, Amen, Imen, Egyptian Yamanu) was the name of a great deity in Egyptian mythology who gradually rose to become one of the most important gods in Ancient Egypt, before fading into obscurity. As his following grew larger, Amun rapidly became identified with the chief God that was worshipped in other areas, Ra-Herakhty (the merged identities of Ra and Horus). This identification led to a merger of the two identities, and Amun became Amun-Ra. As Ra was the father of Shu and Tefnut, and the remainder of Ennead, Amun-Ra was identified as their father.
Ra-Herakhty had been a sun god, so this became true of Amun-Ra as well - with Amun becoming known as the hidden aspect of the sun (during the night), and Ra-Herakhty known as the visible aspect, since Amun clearly meant 'the one who is hidden'. This complexity over the sun led to a gradual movement towards the support of a more pure form of deity.
During the eighteenth dynasty, the pharoah Akhenaten (also known as Amenhotep IV) introduced the worship of the god Aten, whose power was both literally and symbolically manifested in the sun. He defaced the symbols of old gods and based his new religion upon Aten. However, this change was very abrupt and unpopular, particularly with previous temple priests who lost their former power. Consequently, when Akhenaten died, his name was striken from Egyptian records - along with the changes he had made. Worship of Amun-Ra was restored. The priests persuaded the new young pharoah Tutankhaten, whose name meant 'the living age of Aten', to change his name to Tutankhamun, meaning 'the living age of Amun'.
Cold Cast is a modern method of casting sculptures using a mixture of resin and powdered polymer materials. The finished sculpture has a surface which looks very similar to traditionally cast material, but tends to be much lighter.
