Men and gods: divinities’ cult within household religion in ancient Egypt

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

In ancient Egypt the relationship between believers and their deities, a bilateral relationship in which the believer made offerings and paid the due respect to the gods expecting from them help and protection, is mainly conceived within the framework of the religious phenomenon known as personal piety, occurring from the New Kingdom onwards. Household religion, the set of religious practices that took place at home, usually understood as an expression of Egyptian personal piety, is a possible path to a deeper understanding of this relationship. Resorting to a set of material sources found in various settlements in ancient Egypt that attest that gods were present in houses, it is possible to essay a characterisation of the divinities’ cult in a domestic context. Thus, the aim of this text is to use the textual sources to understand the factors that ground the relationship between men and gods and the material vestiges found at homes to identify which gods were present in Egyptian houses, how they were worshiped and also since when.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationAncient Egypt 2017
Subtitle of host publicationPerspectives of Research
EditorsMari Helena Trindade Lopes, Joanna Popielska-Grzybowska, Jadwiga Iwaszczuk, Ronaldo Guilherme Gurgel Pereira
Place of PublicationWarsaw
PublisherHarrassowitz Verlag
Pages153-166
Number of pages13
ISBN (Print)978-3-447-11458-5, 978-83-952189-5-8
Publication statusPublished - 2020
Event8th EUROPEAN CONFERENCE OF EGYPTOLOGISTS (CECE 8): “Egypt 2017: Perspectives of Research”, CHAM – FCSH - Nova University of Lisbon/ Calouste Gulbenkian Fondation/ Museum of Archaeology of Lisbon, June 26 - July 1, 2017. - FCSH - Nova University of Lisbon/ Calouste Gulbenkian Fondation/ Museum of Archaeology of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal
Duration: 26 Jun 20171 Jul 2017

Publication series

NameTravaux de L’institut des Cultures Méditerranéennes et Orientales de L’académie Polonaise des Sciences
PublisherHarrassowitz Verlag
Volume6

Conference

Conference8th EUROPEAN CONFERENCE OF EGYPTOLOGISTS (CECE 8): “Egypt 2017: Perspectives of Research”, CHAM – FCSH - Nova University of Lisbon/ Calouste Gulbenkian Fondation/ Museum of Archaeology of Lisbon, June 26 - July 1, 2017.
Abbreviated titleCECE 8
Country/TerritoryPortugal
CityLisbon
Period26/06/171/07/17

Keywords

  • Ancient Egypt
  • Household religion
  • Divinities’ cult
  • Material sources
  • Personal piety

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