Merficul and Personal Egyptian Gods

Personal piety appears to have reached a high point in New Kingdom era - when it was believed that the gods could forgive human sins - and is perhaps most clearly seen in the so-called "penitential text" which

Stela of Penbuy, dedicated to Ptah, with
prayer-hearing ears, from Deir el-Medina.
19th Dynasty. British Museum.

have survived to us from Deir el-Medina. These range from formal compositions inscribed in carved stelae to simple graffiti and include inscriptions dedicating them to Amun, Ptah, Hathur, Meretseger and other Egyptian gods. In a good number of cases they demonstrate that - at least by New Kingdom times - the extent of the personal relationship possible between the common people of Egypt and even the greatest Egyptian gods was considerable.

Some of these texts preserve penitential inscriptions of considerable beauty not unlike that attained in some of the more famous Hebrew psalms. The votive stelae of Nebre, for example, includes the following poignant words which underscore the Egyptian belief in the awareness and mercy of his god.

You are Amun, the Lord of the silent, who comes at the voice of the poor. When I call to you in my distress, you come to rescue me, to give breath to him who is wretched, To rescue me from bondage...

Though the servant was disposed to do evil, The Lord is disposed to forgive. The Lord of Thebes spends not a whole day in anger, His wrath passes in a moment, none remains. His breath comes back to us in mercy, Amun returns upon his breeze...

- Votive Stela of Nebre, from Deir el-Medina

In the final era of Egypt's ancient history, the supreme position of Isis and the wide range of her cult appear to have been due, to a very large degree, to the personal relationship of the goddess with her followers and the promise of salvation which was tied to this bond. Often this personal relationship with the deity is seen as purely a development of the Graeco-Roman era, but its precedents in Egypt are clear and provided a fertile ground for the eventual development of Isis worship as a road to personal salvation in later times.

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