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7/20/2025, 1:34:55 AM
>At Akhmim, Min had both an urban shrine within the settlement, and a chapel, the ‘al-Salamuni speos’, in the nearby mountain cliffs. Archaeologist A D Espinel suggested the speos may have originally inspired Min’s association with the wilderness, and influenced the form of around 20 other rock chapels in the Eastern Desert. Similarly, the ancient Greek god Pan was often worshipped in crevices in rocks, such as on the Athenian Acropolis, which reflected his own origins in the wilderness of Arcadia. This may have encouraged the identification (syncretisation) of Min with Pan in the Graeco-Roman Period, and reinforces the suggestion that Min was associated with wilderness locations. Like Min, Pan was a god of exuberant male sexuality and fertility. The identification of the rock shelters as paneia (shrines or chapels to syncretised Min/Pan) is often made, based on images of Min found therein, such as the one added to older rock-art images at Wadi Minayh. Hence, the paneia are strong evidence for the popularity of Min in the Eastern Desert, and their form as rock shelters suggests the reasons for his popularity.
>Throughout the Mediterranean, monuments in the form of nymphaea (shrines to the nymphs) were often built beside water sources, and thus the carving may be one of these. More substantial sanctuaries to Min existed in the Eastern Desert, too. A religious building, comprising two rooms, was found near the Mons Ophiates quarries, bearing an inscription in Greek that indicated the building was erected during the reign of Augustus (AD 11) to the god Pan/Min. The inscription also had an image of Pan/Min that is similar to that found at Mons Porphyrites.
>Throughout the Mediterranean, monuments in the form of nymphaea (shrines to the nymphs) were often built beside water sources, and thus the carving may be one of these. More substantial sanctuaries to Min existed in the Eastern Desert, too. A religious building, comprising two rooms, was found near the Mons Ophiates quarries, bearing an inscription in Greek that indicated the building was erected during the reign of Augustus (AD 11) to the god Pan/Min. The inscription also had an image of Pan/Min that is similar to that found at Mons Porphyrites.
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