The gate of the year

Relief on a wall of the temple of Deir-el-Medina, near Luxor, dating to the New Kingdom (about 1500-1100 B.C.), representing the ithyphallic god Min, personification of the fecundity and fertility of fields and animals. During the ceremony of the new pharaoh’s coronation a ritual was celebrated in Min’s honor, so that the virility and power of the god would be passed to the new king, who was responsible for the fertility of the entire country. Since the Middle Kingdom, Min was associated with other divinities, like Horus, the falcon-headed god, or the great creator god Amun. The original function of the ithyphallic god was thus incorporated as one of the multiple aspects of these great deities (Remler 2010).

[Image: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amun]




Male Symbols

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Relief on a wall of the temple of Deir-el-Medina, near Luxor, dating to the New Kingdom (about 1500-1100 B.C.), representing the ithyphallic god Min, personification of the fecundity and fertility of fields and animals. During the ceremony of the new pharaoh’s coronation a ritual was celebrated in Min’s honor, so that the virility and power of the god would be passed to the new king, who was responsible for the fertility of the entire country. Since the Middle Kingdom, Min was associated with other divinities, like Horus, the falcon-headed god, or the great creator god Amun. The original function of the ithyphallic god was thus incorporated as one of the multiple aspects of these great deities (Remler 2010). [Image: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amun]