Explain and asses the importance of religious beliefs, organisation and buildings for New Kingdom Egypt in the Ramesside period

Central issues

 Importance of religion to society: at all levels - state & personal  Fluctuation of religious development in relation to the fortunes of the Egyptian state  Importance of ma’at  Importance of rituals  Role and importance of oracles  Personal piety  Temples o Cult importance o Economic importance  Political importance of religion/priesthood

Secondary sources

 Breasted – religious advancement in early Ramesside period –“[religion reached] its noblest and most exalted period”  O’Connor – ma’at a crystallisation of various religious + secular ideas – “the appropriate arrangement of the universe and of human affairs”  O’Connor – rituals, not myth or theology, which dominated Egyptian religious life  Breasted – development and importance of personal piety – reaction to Armana period – “an age of personal piety and inner aspiration to god now dawned among the masses”  Kemp – growth of temple ritual extended religious authority over the masses – “replacing some of the bureaucratic control with greater and more overt psychological manipulation”  O’Connor – limitation to priesthoods' power – “ultimately the temple establishments had neither the necessary nor the occasion of developing substantial military or police powers, coercive resources which were ultimately linked to power in ancient Egypt”

Ancient Sources

 Harris Papyrus (Ramesses III) – evidence of distinction in amount and quality + quantity of temple offerings to various cults + comparison reveals prominence of Amun cult – evidence of pattern throughout Ramesside period of political favouritism (Breasted)  Wilbour Papyrus (Ramesses IV) – evidence of important economic role of temples + temple land subdivided - evidence of temples economic influence at all levels  Tomb of the high priest of Amun, Amenhotep (Ramesses IX) - change in temple economic policy + evidence of growing economic importance of temple at cost of pharaoh