Introduction

It is held that the authentic practice of ancient Egyptian religion ceased with the end of pharaonic culture and the rise of Christianity. However, this book is the result of a four-year ethnographic study of individuals and groups presently engaged in ancient Egyptian religion, self-described as the Kemetic community. ‘Kemetic’ originates from the ancient Egyptian name for Egypt itself, ‘Kemet’, roughly translated as ‘Black Land’. ¹ It is a term used in discrete, but non-exclusive contexts; one use of Kemet originates from the contours of Afrocentrism, touched upon herein, but warranting further study (Chapters 2 and 3). Another notable use is by communities engaged in the revival and/or reconstruction of ancient Egyptian religion and spirituality. In many cases, Kemet is used as a term of respect for the ancient culture and language of the Nile Valley’s inhabitants, and ‘Kemetic’ can be employed to self-describe an individual adhering to one or more aspects of that culture. However, uses between politically/ethnically and spiritually motivated groups are often discrete, differing on several significant points. The Kemetic continuum consists of a range of present-day Egypt-centred religious practices: from the eclectic pagan at one end, building a personal religion from a variety of cultures, to reconstructionists at the other, who attempt to reconstruct the religion of pharaonic Egypt as authentically as possible. Reconstructionists utilise primary Egyptian texts and materials, in addition to the work of scholars and academics. Kemetic religion has a growing and active community, thousands of individuals reviving and living pharaonic practices in the modern world. These individuals might provide unique perspectives on the religion of ancient Egypt, as Kemeticism raises pertinent questions on the ‘lived’ aspect of Egyptian religiousity, and as such provides a unique opportunity for ethnography in Egyptology. Subsequently, this volume asks if archaeologists and Egyptologists could potentially benefit from Kemetic insights. Faced with a sparse record, archaeologists struggle to engage with topics such as ‘taboo’, ritual performance and, significantly, gender, sexuality, religious identity and piety. Dealing with a culture that is no longer ‘lived’, archaeologists and Egyptologists attempt to construct a working understanding, based on the evidence, from texts and material remains. Yet the experiential aspects may become lost in analysis and classification. This work asks what biases are brought into play during such processes, particularly when reconstructing an alien culture through the lens of modern Western secular thought.