The presence and involvement of women in religious practice of the nineteenth dynasty

This thesis is an examination and discussion of the areas in which women engaged in religious practice during the Nineteenth Dynasty period of ancient Egyptian history. Based on literary, inscriptional, archaeological, artistic and iconographic evidence, this thesis identifies the numerous feminine religious titles that were in use during the Nineteenth Dynasty, including the šmʹyt and the wr.t ḫnr.wt, and examines their associated roles and actions in relation to religious worship and celebration, as well as the social status and family connections of the title holders and the development, frequency and distribution of the titles themselves. The thesis also examines the roles and significance of female mourners in mortuary ritual – specifically the funerary procession and the rites performed before the tomb door, and the presence of women in the tomb itself is discussed, with particular consideration paid to the significance of the types of women who appear, where they appear, what they are depicted doing and what information about them is recorded. Other acts of female personal piety, such as the involvement of women in religious festivals and the adoration of deities through dedicatory stelae, both in conjunction with their male relatives and on their own, are also addressed. A prosopographic index of women who held feminine religious titles in this period has also been assembled, with each entry containing the name, titles and family members of the women, as well as an approximate date, source monument and publication details.