The Ram-Headed Amun and the Magnetic Field of Mars (and for a time, Mercury)
‘Face-on,’ a full Mars
I would suggest that what we are looking at here is a planetary body appearing almost stationary on the eastern horizon and in opposition to Sun. That is to say this form of Amun manifested itself in the east as Re set in the west. I reason this because the iconography clearly reveals we are looking at a planetary body seen ‘face-on’ (from the Egyptian’s POV) as it is blasted by the solar wind. We may compare this to a full moon rising in the east as the Sun sets in the west – the light from the Sun fully illuminating the Moon’s disk, and this representing the solar wind bombarding the Moon ‘full on.’ Only, unlike the movements of the Moon, pharaonic Mars remained stationary in the east for lengthy periods of time. This possibly being a contributing factor in the Ram’s head i.e. small nose extending outwards. The long flowing hair or lion’s mane here signifies the magnetotail was on many occasions also probably observed. The ram’s beard below which the Pharaoh stands would be the point at which the magnetic field enters the pole of Mars. This could be the origin of the beard worn by all Pharaohs.
If the Sun was at any other angle with respect to Mars, then I think we would be looking at a different form of Amun (which I’m not ruling out) and we would not be presented with such a face-on image. That said, its possible the Egyptians incorporated many of the magnetic apparitions of said planets into this Amun ‘face on’ Ram guise.
To make clear, the ram-headed Amun was just one manifestation of Mars, there were many others (what do you expect!) e.g., there’s is no doubt the Sun also rose behind Mars on numerous occasions and Re’s light (no glare) would deem Mars’ magnetic field invisible during the day, this giving rise to the traditional ubiquitous red orb once again reigning supreme. Or as discussed below, Mars (and other bodies) may just have appeared in Sphinx form.
Were Amun’s ears also seen?
Perhaps Amun’s prominent ears were also seen. I will simply use a couple of images for comparison. Bearing in mind, dust granting visibility to the otherwise invisible.
Top; a diagram of earth’s magnetic field. Compare this to the ram-headed Amun with protruding ears.
Why a recumbent Sphinx?
Drawing from the natural world the ram’s head was chosen primarily due to its very distinctive ‘magnetic horns,’ but why attach the ram’s head to a recumbent lions body? The key here is planetary bodies appearing stationary as Horus ‘in’ the horizon.
Horemakhet, “Horus in the Horizon.” A planetary king as Horus literally ‘in’ the horizon.
All kings were embodied in the sky god Horus and as demonstrated here Horus should be totally disassociated from the Sun. He was the primary god by which all kings reigned over earth and his many forms signify the many prominent guises and attributes of the errant planets, e.g. Horus Behdety (winged disk) = a body adorning wings; Harsiese (‘Horus Son of Isis’ ) = a body amidst the ecliptic (Isis), dust etc., etc. In short, Horus = ruling planetary king.
With the above in mind picture this, a thick dynamic band of debris encircling the horizon of a ‘flat’ earth – a thick haze of dust that, at times, gave the appearance of actually merging with earth (The Egyptians actually breathed in this ‘soot.’ See Ancient Air Pollution). Now place pharaonic Mars amidst this dust and debris as it locks into a geosynchronous orbit above the Trans-Himalayas (thus raising them). This gives us a planetary king, as Horus, quite literally ‘in’ the horizon. In this guise the Pharaoh was aptly known as ‘Horus IN the horizon,’ Horemakhet. Harmakhet’s form is that of a sphinx or a sphinx with the head of a ram… ‘ (Tour Egypt). The Great Sphinx at Giza (below) was known as Horemakhet and is a prime example a pharaoh embodied in a lions body.
The mainstream belief that it represents the dawn and the early morning sun is absurd, for how can the Sun be described as ‘in’ the horizon? Furthermore, the Sun is in constant motion and was accordingly said to traverse the heavens in a barque of millions of years, so why represent as an stationary animal? It is apparent, Horemakhet represents a god king planet dwelling in the thick hazy band of the horizon.
A recumbent lion was chosen to primarily signify a stationary body as strong as a lion amidst countless tons of dust not only within earth’s atmosphere but also littering the solar system. Many cosmogonical gods would reside amidst this band of debris, Sobek would be one such southern ‘horizon/earth’ deity. I would also further suggest given the intermingling of atmospheres, bow shocks and cometary tails exhibited by planetary bodies that some sort of ‘lion shape’ was perceived. For example; it’s possible the front paws of the sphinx are symbolic of a planetary body with the Sun behind it exhibiting a double plumed magnetotail (see Comet Venus,) or ‘paws’ to the ancients. I’ve drawn a cartoon diagram (right) to give a very rough idea here of what may have been observed.
Many kings were shown in sphinx form and although this requires further research the following images speak volumes. The reader is to make their own mind up as to whether or not Egypt’s divine royal family were uniquely human, or in this case, primarily guises of celestial bodies appearing stationary IN the horizon.
So why add a ram’s head? To clarify, the lion maned sphinx came first, the ram’s headed sphinx followed (or at the very least appeared simultaneously) as certain bodies emblazoned themselves in the horizon skies adorning electromagnetic traits – what a sight!