<p> Explain and asses the importance of religious beliefs, organisation and buildings for New Kingdom Egypt in the Ramesside period</p><p>Central issues</p><p> 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</p><p>Secondary sources</p><p> 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”</p><p>Ancient Sources</p><p> 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</p>