Jeff Dahl

In ancient Egyptian religion and mythology, Min (also called Amsu) was a god of fertility, generation, rain, good crops, and virility. He may also have been worshiped as a god of travelers and of roads. He was associated with Horus as Min-Horus and in later times was identified with Amon-Re. The center of his worship was in Coptos and Panopolis in Lower Egypt, but his worship was widespread. He was also a god of hunters and nomads throughout the eastern desert region. Caravan leaders would pray to him before setting out through the desert. Statues of Min decorated with shells and swordfish have been found; they suggest he originated as a maritime god brought to Egypt by people who traveled through the eastern desert.

Min was usually portrayed as a man with an erect phallus, holding a whip in his right hand. He wore a headdress of two plumes with a streamer down the back. His festivals often took place at the beginning of harvest season. The first-cut sheaf of the harvest was offered to him in ritual appreciation by the king himself. The Greeks identified Min with their god Pan.