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Piety in Ancient Egypt

The concept of piety in ancient Egypt could be defined as  a personal, individual expression of faith in and devotion to a deity,  as  opposed  to  institutionalized  religious  practice,  which  was  traditionally the preserve of the king. The monarch was responsible  for  the  maintenance  of  maat—the  order  of  the  universe,  both  cosmic and social, as established by the creator at creation—which  included the maintenance of the relationship between the gods and  humankind. This was achieved via the temple rituals conducted, in  theory, by the king, but in practice by priests who acted for him.  The ordinary person had no role in this activity.

Historical Developments:

Evidence for personal religion prior  to the New Kingdom is limited. Some personal names, which in  ancient  Egyptian  are  often  theophoric,  hint  at  a  personal  relationship between the deity and the bearer of the name. These  names  are  particularly  common  in  the  Late  period:  for  example,  Padiese,  "he,  whom  Isis  gave"  (Greek,  Isidore).  Yet  some  are  attested from earliest times: for example, Shed-netjer, "whom the  god rescues" (from the first dynasty); from the Old Kingdom there  were the names Khui-wi-Ptah (or -Re, -Horus, -Khnum, or -Sobek),  "may  Ptah (or  Re,  Horus,  etc.)  protect  me."  A  few  texts  of  the  Middle Kingdom also make brief references to personal worship.

The paucity of evidence for personal religion prior to the New Kingdom can be explained by the limits set by what John Baines  (1985) defined as "decorum," a set of rules regarding what could  and could not be expressed in image and/or text in certain contexts.  These guidelines can be illustrated in the way deities appeared on  nonroyal  monuments.  Until  the  Middle Kingdom,  decorum  ex- cluded the possibility for nonroyal persons to depict deities on their  monuments;  they appeared  only  in  texts,  almost  exclusively  of a  funerary nature, or in the form of their emblems. Not until the end  of the Middle Kingdom were the first representations of nonroyal  persons  worshiping  a  deity  inscribed  on  nonroyal  stelae.  Even  there, a barrier usually in the form of a column of inscription and/or  an  offering  table  separated  the  worshiper  from  the  deity.  Not until the early New Kingdom and onward did images of deities  regularly appear on nonroyal monuments.

Personal  religion  was  encouraged  by  New  Kingdom  developments that contributed to a gradual breaking down of the  barriers that separated individual and deity, such as the evolution  and growth of festival processions of the deities. During the New  Kingdom, evidence survives for a burgeoning of such processions,  when the divine images were brought out of the seclusion of their  temples and carried in a portable boat-shrine along a processional  way. Although the images were hidden from view in the cabins of  the boats (or barks, as they are often called), the ordinary person  could approach them and seek the advice of the deity on all manner  of personal issues, through an oracle.

Among the earliest literary evidence for personal piety in the  New  Kingdom  are  limestone  ostraca,  dated  paleo-graphically  to  the pre-Amama period, which carry short prayers addressed to the  god  Amun.  These  ostraca  may  have  been  placed  along  the  processional  way  taken  by  the  god,  and  they  bear  some  of  the  earliest sentiments of love and devotion to a deity: "Amun-Re, you  are the beloved one, you are the only one!"

The  growth  of  personal  piety  was  accompanied  by  a  diminution of the exclusive role of the king and official religion.  As Jan Assmann (1984) has pointed out, one of the aims of King Akhenaten was to reverse that trend and restore to the monarch the  central role in religion, as the mediator between the one god Aten  and the people. His reform failed, indeed it succeeded in achieving  the exact opposite—people were not prepared to abandon their old  deities, and, since the official cults of the old gods were proscribed  by  the  king,  people  were  forced  to  turn  to  them  directly.  This  situation probably explains the explosion of evidence for personal  piety in both post-Amarna and Ramessid times, the latter dubbed  by James H. Breasted in 1912 "the age of personal piety."

The trauma of the Amarna period and its aftermath doubtless  also contributed to the atmosphere of uncertainty that is evident in  the following historical period. That uncertainty was illustrated by  theophoric  names,  which  contain  the  verb  sd  ("rescue,"  "save"),  names such as Shed-su-Amun ("may Amun save him"). Although  sporadically  met  in  earlier  periods,  such  names  were  most  frequently used in the New Kingdom (Ranke 1935. p. 330 f.). The  letter of the scribe Butehamun to the captain of the bowmen Shed- su-Hor  ("may  Horus  save  him")  also  reflected  this  phenomenon  (Wente 1990, p. 196), as did the emergence of the god Shed, the  personification  of  the  concept  of  the  rescuing  activity  of  a  deity  demonstrated in the study of Hellmut Brunner (1958, pp. 17-19).  The inscriptions  of  Si-mut  Kiki  (Wilson  1970)  provide  a  particularly  good example of some of the perceived dangers and illustrate the  concept  of  a  chosen  personal  deity,  to  whom  the  devotee  was  particularly attached and from whom protection was sought, a well- attested phenomenon of piety that made its first appearance at that  time.

As  Assmann  pointed  out  (1989,  p.  75  ff.),  a  further  religious  development in the New Kingdom generated a change in the role of  maat. Whereas it was previously held that one's fate depended on  one's behavior (if one lived a life in accordance with the principles  of  maat  then  one  would  perforce  flourish;  if  one  transgressed  against  it  one  would  be  punished—the  king  being  the  one  who  upheld  maat  and  meted  out  punishment),  instead  one  came  to  be  seen as directly responsible to the deity, who personally intervened  in the individual's life and punished wrongdoing. The misfortunes  from which people then needed to be saved were not only those of  an  impersonal  kind  but  also  included  divine  wrath,  meted  out  as  punishment for perceived wrongdoing.

Sources:

Archaeological  sources  for  the  practice  of  piety  have  survived  in  the  form  of  shrines  and  votive  offerings,  but  for  a  proper  understanding  of  the  phenomenon  we  are  dependent  on  literary  sources.  These  are  varied,  including  biographical  inscriptions,  hymns,  inscriptions  on  scarabs.  Wisdom  Literature  and, in particular, the prayers (often penitential) of individuals. A  very good example in a hymn may be found in those to Amun in  the  Leiden  Papyrus  (Prichard  1969,  p.  369).  The  most  important  Wisdom teaching is that of Amenemope (Lichtheim 1976, pp. 146- 163).  The  prayers  of  individuals,  inscribed  on  stelae  dedicated  to  the  deity  as  votive  offerings,  are  very  similar  to  the  biblical  penitential  psalms  expressing  sorrow  for  wrongdoing  and  thanks  for forgiveness. The bulk of our evidence comes from the Deir el-Medina, in Western Thebes, from the village of the workmen who  built the tombs of the kings. This bias is due primarily to the chance  of good preservation of the site, rather than to any unique religious  development that may have taken place there, although the fact that  Thebes probably suffered from the excesses of the Amama period  more than other places may also have been a factor. Ashraf Sadek  (1987) presented the evidence from other locations, among which  the Wepwawet sanctuary at Assyut (where more than six hundred  small stelae were discovered) was particularly significant.

The  Elements  of  the  Prayers:

terminology are regularly encountered in the prayers, hymns, and votive offerings:

1. The introductory words of praise and appeal to the deity often  include a description of the deity who is said to be "one who hears petitions (nhwt)," "who comes at  the voice of the poor (nmhw) in need," "who comes at the  voice of him who calls to him."

2. In the description of the transgressor, the writer claims to be  a "silent one," that is, a devout person (gr); a poor, humble  person (nmhw). By way of apology, the claim is made to be  ignorant and senseless (iwty hyty), to be one who does not  know good (nfr) from evil (bin).

3.  The  writer  confesses  to  having  committed  an  act  of  transgression (sp n thi), to having done what is abhorrent or  "taboo" (bty or bwt), to having sworn falsely ('rk m 'dy) by  the deity.

4.  The  deity  punishes  the  transgression,  often  with  sickness;  very frequent is the expression "seeing darkness by day," an  image for separation from the deity.

5. A promise is made to proclaim the might of the deity to all  the  world,  to  "son  and  daughter,  the  great  and  small,  generations not yet born," to "the fish in the water and the  birds in the air," to "the foolish and the wise."

6. An account is given of answer to prayer—the deity is said to  respond  to  the  pleas  of  the  petitioner  and  "to  come  as  a  sweet  breeze"  to  be  "merciful"  (htp)  to  "turn"  ('n)  to  the  petitioner "in peace" (htp).

The Deities:

There was a range of deities, from the major gods  and  goddesses  worshiped  throughout  Egypt  (such  as  Amun-Re,  Ptah, Hathor, Thoth, Osiris, Wepwawet, Horakhty and Haoeris) to  local  deities  (such  as  Mer-etseger,  the  personification  of  the  western mountain, "the Peak," at Thebes). Also worshipped were  deified  kings,  such  as  King Amenhotep I (1514-1493)  and less  commonly,  mortals,  such  as  Amenophis,  Son  of  Hapu,  an  official  of  King Amenhotep III (1382-1344).  Amun  was  popularly  worshiped  in  his  forms  py  rhn  nfr  ("the  goodly ram") and smn nfr n 'Imn ("the goodly goose of Amun").  The prevalence of the former was based on his animal symbol, the  ram, being the most public form of the god. It decorated the prow  and  stern  of  his  portable  bark,  and  the  avenues  leading  to  his  temples in Thebes were lined with statues of rams. The god Thoth,  patron  of  scribes,  was  favored  by  this  profession,  and  prayers  to  him appear in the Ramessid schooling literature.

The  Petitioners:

One  of  the  terms  by  which  petitioners  regularly  referred  to  themselves  in  the  penitential  prayers  was  nmhw, "a poor, humble person." This does not mean that piety was  a religion of the poor, since they would not have had the means to  commission  the  monuments  that  provide  us  with  our  data.  The  people  from  Deir  el-Medina  who  called  themselves  nmhw  were  relatively well-situated artisans, and most of the dedications found  in the shrines around the Great Sphinx at Giza are by people of middle, lower-middle, or low rank, but even the viceroy  of Nubia Huy, addressed a prayer of personal piety to his master,  the  king  Tutankhamun.  The  king  was  also  involved  in  this  movement: Ramesses II's record of the Battle of Kadesh, inscribed  on temple walls and pylons, did on a massive scale what the small  votive  stelae  of  the  ordinary  person  did  more  modestly.  In  the  prayer  of  Ramesses III  to  Amun  at  Karnak,  sentiments  and  ex- pressions are found that parallel those of the nonroyal prayers.

Other  terms  used  to  designate  the  ideal  god-fearing  pious  person were mfty, " a just one," comparable to the sadiq, "just," of  the biblical tradition; 1fbhw, "the cool, quiet one"; and gr or gr my',  "the silent one" or "the one who is justly silent." Their antithesis is  sm or sm 1-3, "the hot or hot-mouthed one." The term "the silent  one" is found in prayers of personal piety but is even better known  from  the  wisdom  teachings;  it  refers  to  those  who  do  not  assert  themselves  but  who  place  their  trust  in  the  divine,  recognize  the  supreme free will of a deity, and are totally submissive to that will.  That  attitude  is  succinctly  summarized  in  chapter  25  of  the  Instructions of Amene-mope: "For man is clay and straw, God is  his  builder;  he  pulls  down,  he  builds  in  a  moment.  He  makes  a  thousand insignificant as he wishes, he makes a thousand people  overseers when he is in his hour of life. Happy is he who reaches  the  West  [i.e.,  the  grave]  being  safe  in  the  hand  of  god."  There,  worldly success—once seen as the result of correct behavior, of a  life lived in accordance with maat— is held to be totally in the gift  of  a  god;  not  success,  then,  but  rather  an  unbroken  relationship  with  a  god,  was  the  true  mark  of  a  successful  life.  The  model  frequently used for the relationship between the individual and a  deity is that of servant (byk) and master (nb); as does a servant his  master, so the devout person "follows" (sm.s) and is "loyal" to (sms  hr mw/mtn) a deity.

The  confessions  of  fault  in  the  penitential  prayers  refer  to  "actual sin"; the reference is always to some concrete, individual  act or an inner thought or personal attitude. A concept of "general  sin"  is  not  found  (i.e.,  the  concept  of  the  existence  of  a  barrier  between  humankind  and  the  divine  that  is  not  the  result  of  an  individual  deed  or  thought  but  of  the  general  condition  of  humankind—the Christian concept of "original sin"). The closest  to the latter would be the statement on the stela of Nebra, that "the  servant is disposed to do evil" (Lichtheim 1976, p. 106).

Locations  of  Cults:

 Ashraf  Sadek  (1987)  has  collected  the  evidence for the locations of cults of personal piety. They include  nonofficial shrines (such as the small chapels erected by groups of  individuals at Deir el-Medina or the tiny shrines set up along the  path from Deir el-Medina to the Valley of the Kings), as well as  places provided at official cult centers (such as the eastern temple  at Karnak, dedicated  to  Amun  and  "Ramesses  who  hears  petitions,"  or  the  monumental eastern gateway at Deir el-Medina, with its relief of  "Ptah  who  hears  petitions").  At  the  Tenth  Pylon  at  Karnak,  two  individuals—Amenhotep,  son  of  Hapu,  and  Piramesse—set  up  statues  of  themselves  to  act  as  mediators  between  the  great  god  Amun  and  petitioners.  The  regular  festival  processions  of  the  deities were also important occasions for the practice of personal  religion; the promise in many of the penitential prayers—to make a  public proclamation of the experienced greatness and mercy of the  deity—was most probably fulfilled at such processions. The stela  of  Pataweret  (Brunner  1958,  pp.  6-12)  from  the  Wepwawet  sanctuary at Asyut provides valuable data on this aspect of personal  religion.  Divided  into  three  registers,  the  bottom  one  depicts  Pataweret's  experience  of  the  saving  intervention  of  Wepwawet,  called "the savior," who rescued him from being taken by a crocodile. The other two registers show where he expressed his thanks  to the god. In the middle one he is shown alone, praying before an  image  of  the  god  at  a  shrine.  In  the  top  register  he  is  shown  publicly praising the god during a procession.

Although compositions comparable to those of personal piety in  the Ramessid era are not known from later periods, many of the  sentiments  found  in  them  appear  in  later  biographical  texts,  and  their formulas of piety live on in some of the Greco-Roman temple  inscriptions.

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