After the rebellion of Thebes against the Hyksos and with the rule of Ahmose I (16th century BC), Amun acquired national importance, expressed in his fusion with the Sun god, Ra, as Amun-Ra (alternatively spelled Amon-Ra or Amun-Re).

Amun-Ra in this period (16th–11th centuries BC) held the position of transcendental, self-created[8] creator deity "par excellence"; he was the champion of the poor or troubled and central to personal piety.

[10] As the chief deity of the Egyptian Empire, Amun-Ra also came to be worshiped outside Egypt, according to the testimony of ancient Greek historiographers in Libya and Nubia.

In Thebes, Amun as father, Mut as mother, and the Moon god Khonsu as their son formed the divine family or the "Theban Triad".

The history of Amun as the patron god of Thebes begins in the 20th century BC, with the construction of the Precinct of Amun-Ra at Karnak under Senusret I.

Major construction work in the Precinct of Amun-Ra took place during the 18th Dynasty when Thebes became the capital of the unified ancient Egypt.

Merenptah commemorated his victories over the Sea Peoples on the walls of the Cachette Court, the start of the processional route to the Luxor Temple.

Next to this inscription is the Victory Stela, which is largely a copy of the more famous Merneptah Stele found in the funerary complex of Merenptah on the west bank of the Nile in Thebes.

[16] Merenptah's son Seti II added two small obelisks in front of the Second Pylon, and a triple bark-shrine to the north of the processional avenue in the same area.

[17] The victory against the "foreign rulers" achieved by pharaohs who worshipped Amun caused him to be seen as a champion of the less fortunate, upholding the rights of justice for the poor.

Since he upheld Ma'at (truth, justice, and goodness),[9] those who prayed to Amun were required first to demonstrate that they were worthy, by confessing their sins.

Since rams were considered a symbol of virility, Amun also became thought of as a fertility deity, and so started to absorb the identity of Min, becoming Amun-Min.

This association with virility led to Amun-Min gaining the epithet Kamutef, meaning "Bull of his mother",[14] in which form he was found depicted on the walls of Karnak, ithyphallic, and with a "flail", as Min was.

[19]During the latter part of the Eighteenth dynasty, the pharaoh Akhenaten (also known as Amenhotep IV) advanced the worship of the Aten, a deity whose power was manifested in the sun disk, both literally and symbolically.

The fashioner of that which the soil produces, ... a mother of profit to gods and men; a patient craftsman, greatly wearying himself as their maker ... valiant herdsman, driving his cattle, their refuge and the making of their living ...

During the reign of Horemheb, Akhenaten's name was struck from Egyptian records, all of his religious and governmental changes were undone, and the capital was returned to Thebes.

[27]While not regarded as a dynasty, the High Priests of Amun at Thebes were nevertheless of such power and influence that they were effectively the rulers of Egypt from 1080 to c. 943 BC.

In Thebes, however, his worship continued unabated, especially under the Nubian Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt, as Amun was by now seen as a national god in Nubia.

In Nubia, where his name was pronounced Amane or Amani (written in meroitic hieroglyphs as "𐦀𐦉𐦊𐦂" and in cursive as "𐦠𐦨𐦩𐦢"), he remained a national deity, with his priests, at Meroe and Nobatia,[29] regulating the whole government of the country via an oracle, choosing the ruler, and directing military expeditions.

According to Diodorus Siculus, these religious leaders were even able to compel kings to commit suicide, although this tradition stopped when Arkamane, in the 3rd century BC, slew them.

[32] During the reign of Akhenaten, talatat blocks were used to create the first part of the enduring monumental structure consisting of the outer court, pylon, and inner shrine.

[33] The pinnacle of the temple is a large, solid piece of rock protruding from the sandstone mound, and is commonly thought to symbolize either a Uraeus or the White Crown of Upper Egypt.

[32] Egyptian occupiers of Nubia believed the mountain housed a primeval form of Amun of Karnak, calling Jebel Barkal “Nswt-TꜢwy” the “Thrones of the Two Lands.”[33] This is in reference to the intertwined religious and political importance attributed to the temple by both the native Nubians and the Egyptian occupiers, the latter of whom went to great lengths to establish a connection between their new empire and the people they subjugated.

[34] The site became known as a primal source of divine kingship, and association with the cult of Amun centered at Jebel Barkal helped to legitimize the ruler of Upper Egypt.

[41] Amun was identified as a form of Zeus[42] and Alexander often referred to Zeus-Ammon as his true father, and after his death, currency depicted him adorned with the Horns of Ammon as a symbol of his divinity.

He recounts a myth where Amun, urged by his son Khonsu to reveal his true form, concealed himself behind a ram's fleece while manifesting.

This clever disguise allowed Amun to partially fulfill his son's request without fully exposing his true nature.