ABSTRACT
In Egypt, as elsewhere, man responds to God’s call by serving him. This service acquires fixed forms, and this leads to ritual in the narrower sense of the term. But piety, openness toward God, is a changing reality, and it too takes changing forms with the passage of time. These forms are akin to those used in ritual and complement them. Their prime function is to express men’s needs as individuals, rather than as members of society. God appears as helper in need, as well as ruler. In the nature of things ritual may degenerate into something superficial and become petrified into a material affair. This can happen without fatal damage to religious belief: the law of ex opere operato applies. It is likewise in accordance with the nature of things that personal piety should draw upon fresh sources daily; for the unceasing spring of religious faith ensures that God remains a living presence in men’s hearts, even if worship in the temples becomes just a formal observance. Piety and ritual are the flesh and blood of Egyptian religion. Yet are they men’s sole response to the call of God?
