Description
Book SynopsisPersonal religion in Domestic Contexts during the New Kingdom compiles artefacts and fixed emplacements in domestic settings during the New Kingdom in ancient Egypt that, from a comparative approach, are interpreted as examples of religious practices, contributing to the study of the so-called ‘Archaeology of Religion’. By including the two main and best preserved sites for this research, namely Tell el-Amarna and Deir el-Medina, parallel cases for other sites with similar features are provided. At the same time, particular topics are explored throughout the book, including early evidence of personal religion as well as questions referring to the socioeconomic roles of the inhabitants of such main sites. Overall, there are three main themes: the definition of personal religion and religious domestic practices from a theoretical perspective; the description and analysis of the main archaeological and anthropological evidence; and, on that basis, the study of the impact of the Amarna period in the development of personal religion during the New Kingdom.
Table of ContentsPreface ;
Introduction ;
Chapter One: The Domestic Practice of Personal Religion ;
Introduction ;
Religion and Magic in Ancient Egypt ;
The Domestic Setting around the Time of the New Kingdom ;
Origins and Early Evidence of Personal Religion in Ancient Egypt ;
The Domestic Expressions of Personal Religion ;
Religion in the Amarna Period ;
Chapter Two: Domestic Space in the New Kingdom: A Case Study ;
Introduction ;
The Lahun Case: A Middle Kingdom Template ;
Tell el-Amarna ;
Deir el-Medina ;
Inside the Houses ;
The Domestic Distribution of Religious Actions ;
Amarna and Post-Amarna Rooms ;
Chapter Three: The Archaeological Pieces of Evidence: Artefacts et alii ;
Introduction ;
Artefacts of General Cultic Application ;
Tell el-Amarna ;
Deir el-Medina ;
Other Sites ;
Artefacts to Interact with the Deceased ;
The Letters to the Dead ;
Anthropoid Busts ;
3h-ikr-n-R’
Stelae ;
The Royal Ancestors Worship ;
Artefacts to Communicate with the Divinities ;
Amulets ;
Female (Fertility) Figurines ;
Jeux de la Nature ;
Intermediary Statues, Statuettes, and Busts ;
Figured Ostraca ;
Votive Stelae ;
Comparative Study ;
Chapter Four: The Archaeological Pieces of Evidence: Structures ;
Introduction ;
Domestic Cultic Structures ;
Altars ;
Niches ;
Decorations ;
Singular Structures ;
Comparative Study ;
Chapter Five: Personal Religion in the Amarna Period: New Forms for Old Ways ;
Introduction ;
Religious Radicalization ;
The Archaeological ;
The Anthropological ;
The Signification of the Continuity of the Practice of Personal Religion throughout the Amarna Period ;
Bibliography
