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| Worker's house at Deir el-Medina showing an architectural feature which may have served as both a bed and a domestic altar. 18th/19th Dynasty. Western Thebes. Egyptian Gods. |
From the Middle Kingdom onwards we find stelas showing the direct worship of Osiris by the deceased and a "personal piety" movement began to develop, eventually resulting in more direct divine access for the common people - perhaps in contrast to the increasingly hereditary and professional nature of the priesthood. Thus, by New Kingdom times, in addition to the great temples staffed by courses of priests there were numerous small local shrines in which prayers could be offered or votive offerings left for the deity to whom the shrine was dedicated. In workmen's village of Deir el Medina in western Thebes there were shrines of this type honouring Amun, Hathor, Ptah, Thos, Isis, Osiris, Anubis and other gods as well as certain deities of forign origin, such as Astarte and Qadesh. A shrine to Hathor excavated there provides an example of one apparently receiving the veneration mainly of women.
These local shrines show evidence of a good deal of use, but it appears that the religion of many Egyptians may have been dominated by the veneration of personal or local Egyptian gods honoured in even smaller household shrines. Homes excavated at Deir el-Medina contained niches in which were kept the images of departed relatives and also of household deities - most commonly the god Bes and the goddess Taweret. These deities had the power to ward off evil, appearing on plaques or as amulets which were attached to household objects or worn by the person. While such plaques and amulets may be considered apotropaic or protective magic rather than worship per se, the two can hardly be seperated, as the Egyptian gods figured prominently in all types of magical rituals and procedures aimed at procuring desirable condition or avoiding supernatural powers of the cosmos was pervasive int he religions of the ancient world and Egypt was certainly no exception, for its vast pantheism provided a rich realm of possible allies in the practice of religious magic.
