Religious Practice at Deir el-Medina

With few exceptions, previous research on so-called personal religion

has focused on hymns preserved on stelae from Deir el-Medina. Whereas

their significance as testimony of personal choice and religious belief

should not be excluded, the stelae must be understood in their communal

cultic context. In order to grasp individual religious practices this

book seeks to broaden the scope of analysis and include the

archaeological remains from the houses at Deir el-Medina. Instead of

establishing individual relationships between the human and divine, it

appeared that ‘personal’ religion sought to preserve and maintain family

continuity. The ancient Egyptian concept of the continuous cycle of

creation was thus appropriated at home. Whereas the king guaranteed the

order of the cosmos by giving offerings to the gods in the temples,

corresponding activities were performed for the well-being of the family

at home.