Religion in Transition—Cases from Ancient Egypt

Dear Colleagues,

Religion adjusts and changes. As a response to the pandemic, the world witnessed how religious rituals and ceremonies rapidly had to adjust to a life in lockdown. For some, it opened the way for a more personal journey. For others, the bond grew closer with their religious community as they connected virtually. Most religious transformations appear as temporary responses to immediate crises. For this, we have often been faced with the importance of religion in periods of societal transition and turmoil. This was also the case in Ancient Egypt.

Religion often plays a central role in the archaeological reconstruction of ancient Egyptian culture and its changes, which can be traced through alterations in temples and tombs, and the adaption of certain material or objects. The opposite is equally true, and current archaeological work contributes to new perspectives and increases our understanding for the ancient Egyptian religion. For 200 years of Egyptology, our knowledge has been based on elite-driven and urban-biased documentation of monumental structures, which results in a misconception of ancient Egyptian life overall. However, recent interests for ordinary people in rural areas has opened up for a deeper understanding of ancient Egyptian life, culture and religion. Through the excavation and analyses of papyri, ostraca, rock art, artefacts, rural sanctuaries and local tombs, ancient Egyptian religion can be illuminated from a more holistic perspective.

This Special Issue will address ancient Egyptian religion in transition based on current archaeological fieldwork, with special focus on non-elite and peripheral religion, and welcomes contributions ranging from the Predynastic to the Roman period in Egypt. For this, we seek submissions dealing with the changing nature of religion or religion’s relation with societal transition. ‘Religion’ is here interpreted broadly, incorporating any aspects of beliefs and practices, public and domestic, and based on recent archaeological fieldwork. Reinterpretations of older material are equally welcome. By focusing on less-explored subjects and new empirical material, the articles in this volume will bring novel insights into religious aspects of societal transition and vice versa. It will complement standard literature and excavation reports on Egyptian religion in general (Černý 2011; Christie 2016; Nuzzolo 2020; 2021; Okon 2021; Spence 2010), ancient life in the periphery, industrial communities and borderscapes (Budka 2018; Fadel 2021; Huyge 2002; Stevens 2006), and societal transformations overall (Cimadomo, P. et al. 2020; Stausberg 2021; Tognon 2021)

It is requested that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 400–600 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the guest editor ([email protected]) or to /Religions/ editorial office ([email protected]). Abstracts will be reviewed by the guest editor for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer-review.

References

Budka, J. (2018), ‘The Urban Landscape of Upper Nubia (Northern Sudan) in the Second Millennium BC’, in B. Horejs et al. (eds.), Proceedings of the 10th International Congress on the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, 25-29 April 2016, Vienna, vol. 2, Wiesbaden, 175–189.

Černý, J. (2011 ), Ancient Egyptian Religion, South Carolina.

Christie, J.J. (2016). ‘Akhenaten’s Amarna in New Kingdom Egypt: Relations of Landscape and Ideology’, in J. J. Christie et al. (eds.), Political Landscapes of Capital Cities, Boulder, 25–64.

Cimadomo, P. et al. (eds.), Before/After: Transformation, Change, and Abandonment in the Roman and Late Antique Mediterranean, Oxford.

Fadel, D. (2021), ‘The Relationship between Magical Symbols and Daily Life in Greco-Roman Egypt’, The Scientific Journal of the Faculty of Tourism and Hotels- Alexandria University, 256–281.

Huyge, D. (2002), ‘Cosmology, ideology and personal religious practice in ancient Egyptian rock art’, in R. Friedman, R. (ed.), Egypt and Nubia. Gifts of the Desert, London, 192–206 with figs. 2–3.

Nuzzolo, M. et al. (2020), ‘Sun Temple of Niuserra in Abu Ghurab: Report of the Season 2018-2019’, in: Newsletter Centro Interdipartimentale di Servizi per l’Archeologia 11, Napoli: Università di Napoli L’Orientale, 269–310.

Nuzzolo, M. (2021), ‘The Appearance of Osiris: a case of royal patronage or a bottom-up process?’, in: M. Franci, S. Ikram, I. Morfini (eds.), Re-Thinking Osiris. Proceedings of the International Conference Florence, Italy, 26-27 March 2019, Rome: Arbor Sapientiae 2021, 111–146.

Okon, E. (2021), ‘Archaeological Reflections on Ancient Egyptian Religion and Society’, European Scientific Journal 8:26, 107–117.

Spence, K., ‘Settlement Structure and Social Interaction at El-Amarna’, in Cities and Urbanism in Ancient Egypt, Vienna 2010, 289–298.

Stausberg, M. (2021), ‘The Demise, Dissolution and Elimination of Religions’, Numen 68 (2–3), 103–131.

Stevens, A. (2006), Private Religion at Amarna (British Archaeological Reports), London.

Tognon, A., ‘The dimensions of fragility: Between consolidated abandonment processes and traces of resilience’, in Arquitectonics: Mind, Land & Society, The new sense of place in education, profession and social interaction, Barcelona 2021, 22–36.

Dr. Maria Nilsson
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• ancient Egyptian religion
• societal transition
• rural life
• non-elite
• archaeology