The ancestor worship at home: an example of texts and material sources working together

The conception of power in Egyptian civilization is indelibly connected to the Religion.
Usually, when we think about religion in the ancient Egypt, we picture big temples and tombs, the intricate religious conceptions and the figure of the pharaoh, the man in the divine post, responsible for the maintenance of the Order in Cosmos and in the country.
This perspective of the religion concerns to the Official Religion, as is commonly called, but doesn’t cover all aspects of the religious phenomenon in the ancient Egypt. While the Official Religion is about assuring the well-being of the country and all egyptians, other practices sought more direct and specific interventions in each one’s life. In this context, we identify the Household Religion.
The Household Religion refers to the religious practices that took place at home and aimed to answer the daily anxieties in the context of the family’s life. Therefore, we see the field of action being reduced – from all the Egyptians to each one in particular and his family – and a specific definition of space of occurrence – the domestic space.
In the context of an investigation dedicated to the study of the Household Religion, it is intended to present this religious practice as another way of understanding the divine power in the context of the Egyptian civilization. We’ll try to determine, based on the textual and material sources, but mainly the second ones, in which way the religion was part of a naturally profane space, the home, and how the transcendent interfered in each one’s life.