Min
Symbols: phallus, lettuce, bull
Cult Center: Koptos, Akhmin
Min was a fertility god who was believed to bestow sexual powers to all men. He also was a god of the rain who was a generative force of nature. In one of the most important Min festivals, the Pharaoh would hoe the fields as Min looked on. At the harvest festivals, the Pharaoh would ceremoniously hoe the fields under Min's supervision. When the Pharaoh begot his heir, he was also identified with Min.
He was portrayed as an ithyphallic bearded man, with his legs close together and wearing the same headdress as Amon. Min is shown with one arm raised wielding a thunderbolt.
His sacred animal was a white bull and his special plant, long lettuce, lactuca sativa, was believed to have aphrodisiac properties. Lettuce is believed to be associated with him, not due to its vaguely phallic shape, but rather to its white milky sap which is reminiscent of semen.
Min was a predynastic god. In the earliest times he was a sky-god called the "Chief of Heaven". Until the Middle Kingdom he was identified with Horus the Elder and he was called the son of Re or Shu. In the New Kingdom, Min became closely linked to Amon-Re. During this time, Min became immensely popular and orgiastic festivals were held in his honor.
Min's cult was centered in the Delta city of Chemmis and Koptos.
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