anciently a city of Marmarica (Ptolemy). Arian calls it a place, not a city, in which stood the temple of Jupiter Ammon, round which there was nothing but sandy wastes. Pliny says, that the oracle of Ammon was 12 days journey from Memphis, and among the Nomi of Egypt he reckons the Nomos Ammoniacus: Diodorus Siculus, That the district where the temple stood, though surrounded with deserts, was watered by dews which fell nowhere else in all that country. It was agreeably adorned with fruitful trees and springs, and full of villages. In the middle stood the Acropolis or citadel, encompassed with a triple wall; the first and innermost of which contained the palace; the others the apartments of the women, the relations and children, as also the temple of the god, and the sacred fountains for lustrations. Without the Acropolis stood, at no great distance, another temple of Ammon, shaded by a number of tall trees: near which there was a fountain, called that of the sun, or Solis Fons, because subject to extraordinary changes according to the time of the day; morning and evening warm, at noon cold, at midnight extremely hot. A kind of fossil salt was said to be naturally produced here. It was dug out of the earth in large oblong pieces, transparent as crystal. It was thought to be a present worthy of kings, and used by the Egyptians in their sacrifices.—From this our sal ammoniac has taken its name. See Siwah.

or Hammon, in heathen mythology, the name of the Egyptian Jupiter, worshipped under the figure of a ram.

Bacchus having subdued Asia, and passing with his army through the deserts of Africa, was in great want of water: but Jupiter, his father, assuming the shape of a ram, led him to a fountain, where he refreshed himself and his army; in gratitude for which favour, Bacchus built there a temple to Jupiter, under the title of Ammon, from the Greek ἀμμός, which signifies sand, alluding to the sandy desert where it was built. In this this temple was an oracle of great note, which Alexander the Great consulted, and which lasted till the time of Theodosius.

Hammon the god of the Egyptians, was the same with the Jupiter of the Greeks; for which reason these latter denominate the city which the Egyptians call No Hammon, or the habitation of Ammon, Diofpolis or the city of Jupiter. He is thought to be the same with Ham, who peopled Africa, and was the father of Mizraim, the founder of the Egyptians.

Ben-Ammi, the son of Lot, was the father of the Ammonites, and dwelt to the east of the Dead sea, in the mountains of Gilead. See Ammonites and Ammonites.

Ammonius, Andreas, an excellent Latin poet, born at Lucca in Italy, was sent by Pope Leo X. to England, in the characters of protonotary of the apostolic see, and collector-general of that kingdom. He was a man of singular genius and learning, and soon became acquainted with the principal literati of those times; particularly with Erasmus, Colet, Grocin, and others, for the sake of whose company he resided some time at Oxford. The advice which Erasmus gives him, in regard to pushing his fortune, has a good deal of humour in it, and was certainly intended as a satire on the artful methods generally practised by the selfish and ambitious part of mankind: "In the first place (says he), throw off all sense of shame; thrust yourself into every one's business, and elbow out whomsoever you can, neither love nor hate any one; measure every thing by your own advantage; let this be the scope and drift of all your actions. Give nothing but what is to be returned with usury, and be complaisant to everybody. Have always two strings to your bow. Feign that you are solicited by many from abroad, and get everything ready for your departure. Show letters inviting you elsewhere, with great promises." Ammon was Latin secretary to Henry VIII., but at what time he was appointed does not appear. In 1512 he was made canon and prebendary of the collegiate chapel of St Stephen, in the palace of Westminster. He was likewise prebendary of Wells; and in 1514 was presented to the rectory of Dychial in that diocese. About the same time, by the king's special recommendation, he was also made prebendary of Salisbury. He died in the year 1517, and was buried in St Stephen's chapel in the palace of Westminster. He was esteemed an elegant Latin writer, and an admirable poet. The epistles of Erasmus to Ammon abound with encomiums on his genius and works. His works are, 1. Epistolae ad Erasmum, lib. i. 2. Scotici confectihi historia, lib. i. 3. Bucolice vel celogae, lib. i. Basil 1546, 8vo. 4. De rebus nihil, lib. i. 5. Panegyricus quidam, lib. i. 6. Varii generis epigrammata, lib. i. 7. Poemata diversa, lib. i.