On the Head of Ameny

Taken from Myhat in Egypt: Through the Eyes of a God 

A few days later, I had the biggest surprise of life time since I first met Ed. Suddenly, after playing hoops, Ameny asked Ed if he could try me on and if it would be agreeable with Ed to make a similar hat for himself, in the colours white and red, signifying Upper and Lower Egypt. Ed knew that the white crown of Upper Egypt was officially known as the Hedjet, whilst the Red Crown of Lower Egypt was called the Deshret.

After Egypt had been unified, the double crown, red and white, was called the Pschent. That was several hundred years before Ameny and the double crown would be worn by him when he became Pharaoh, as it was by his father Senwosret. Ed was not in the habit of letting others wear me, although I had been on Ana's head and a few others over the years. He could hardly say no to a boy god who was his host, so he took me off, bowed and presented me to Ameny.

What a revelation!

The boy totally believed that he was of divine birth, that he was a god and that he was all powerful. Only his own father was above him in rank. I realised that that Ameny regarded everyone else as inferior, including Ed and Ana, other members of his own family and court, including the many Priests that he regarded with suspicion and as struggling to gain position in his eyes. He had little genuine respect or care for anyone, not even his own family and, as Ameny knew his successors had done, was quite prepared to destroy people's lives and use people for his own purposes. Ameny knew that one day he may have to dispose of his father.

He felt that when he openly worshipped the gods, he was worshipping only wh at he was. Ana's name meant Goddess. Ameny knew that Ed and Ana came to him from a very faraway and mysterious place, a place where huge birds carried people through the skies and people communicated through the air even showing pictures through their mysterious boxes powered by an unseen energy called electricity which was, he had concluded, a great gift from the gods. Ameny saw himself as indestructible: he could do whatever he wanted to or with whoever he wanted, except he could not fly. The head of Ameny was nothing like the head of Ed, or Ana, or any other head that

I been upon. The world view was so different that I became almost lost in it. For the first time in my existence, I understood that it was I that was the superior being. I had a better memory and better understanding of many things than Ed.

If I was to remain on the head of Ameny, I could rule the world.