ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how we might then apprehend the material presence of ancestral beings in ancient Egypt and understand the importance of imbuing spirit with form. Egyptian religion was both traditional and a locus for innovation, as we see with the rising popularity of ancestor busts and stelae in the Ramesside period. Religious practice infused other cultural phenomena as a pervasive mode of discourse and was so diverse and encompassing that no one interpretative strategy can adequately suffice. Egyptian religion placed great importance on the power of visuality and giving form to divine beings: the words "image" and "cult" point to the very heart of Egyptian religion. Just as the portrait claims a certain power through its historicity, the image of the ancestor also performs as the receptacle of a certain life history. In the Egyptian context such objects were perceived as embodied with appreciable timelines and active trajectories.
