Provincial Cults during the Eighteenth Dynasty: A Dialectical Relationship between Royal Patronage and Non-royal Votive Activity

This dissertation examines the dialectical relationship between royal patronage and non-royal votive activity associated with provincial cults in Egypt during the Eighteenth Dynasty (1550-1295 BC). The study focuses on the sites of Mendes, Abydos, Elkab, Elephantine, and Sai Island, which represent a range of geographical regions from the Delta to Nubia. By analyzing architecture, material culture, pictorial evidence, and inscriptional data, this thesis incorporates an integrative approach to Egyptian history. The results of this research demonstrate that the sacred landscapes of Eighteenth Dynasty provincial towns delineated by royal cult institutions (provincial cult temples, peripteral temples, and ka chapels) and festival processional routes enabled royal and non-royal individuals to partake in mutual interactions. Royal involvement in provincial cults solidified economic, administrative, and political ties throughout Egypt and allowed the king to benefit from perpetuating the cults of local deities by appeasing the gods that could grant him favor. A significant development in royal temple construction indicates that this activity was both influenced by local aspects of divine cults and further enriched the built environment of sacred landscapes. At the same time, non-royal individuals could display their social status and devotion to their local deities by participating in festival celebrations and by leaving physical traces of their activity. This dissertation proves that traditionally assumed binary oppositions, or contrasts, between center and periphery, residence versus province, and state versus private religious systems can be moderated through careful analysis of the integration of material remnants of royal and non-royal votive activity acting within specific historical and geographical settings.Ph.D.2021-07-21 00:00:0