God of fertility and protector of the desert and foreign lands, particularly those to the south of Egypt and the regions in the Eastern desert where quarrying was undertaken. Min constantly appears where regeneration, fertility and male potency play a role. For example, rituals involving the god formed part of the coronation ceremony and the Sed festival, with the aim of ensuring the regeneration of the pharaoh. Min was worshipped as early as the predynastic period, as is shown by the emblem of the god appearing on pottery of the period. This emblem was also the symbol of the ninth Upper Egyptian nome, with Coptos its capital. Min was associated with this town, which lay close to the entrance to the Wadi Hammamat where stone quarries and gold mines were situated. Min was also connected with Akhmim, called Panopolis by the Greeks, because the Greeks associated Min with Pan. During the Middle Kingdom, his cult was merged with that of the royal god Horus because of Min's links with kingship. As a result Min could also be regarded as the son of Isis. On the other hand, Min himself was a member of a triad, with Isis as his wife and Horus his son. In the New Kingdom he was regarded as a manifestation of Amun the creator god and primeval god. Min is usually depicted as an ithyphallic mummy, with one arm raised holding a flail; he wears a crown consisting of two feathers in a band, one end of which hangs down his back. Min is often depicted with tall lettuce plants, standing in a field divided into plots which the Egyptians themselves later interpreted as an offering table. From the late Old Kingdom on Min was associated with this plant; a connection has been suggested between the white sap of this plant and human sperm.