People of Ancient Egypt question

[Lemon]

I was wondering if anyone had any info or good sources for how the common people of Ancient Egypt practiced their religion. By common I mean none of the royals or priests, just the "average Joe" type people. A few specific questions I have are: Did they do any rites or rituals (I'm sure the answer is no) and was purity a big issue for them (or was that just the priests?).

Thanks for any info!

[Agaliha]

Here's an article from TourEgypt:
Piety of the Common Ancient Egyptians (http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/commonpiety.htm) by Jimmy Dunn

Unfortunately, far less is known about the worship of common people in Egypt than about that of the state religion. There is a great deal of ancient Egyptian material that has survived regarding the state religion (http://touregypt.net/godsofegypt/) of Egypt's elite, but relatively little evidence documents how the common Egyptians viewed and worshipped their gods. Nevertheless, a fair amount is known about popular religion, at least in certain areas and at certain times, and we can only presume that what is known is indicative of the broader pictures.
(read the article for the rest! There's more details and info)

(it's the same with the Greeks and Romans-- knowledge of the common worship isn't as detailed as the state worship)

The many articles here might also shed some light on your questions:
http://www.touregypt.net/magazine/generalancientegyptianreligion.htm
For example:
Votive Objects and Offerings (http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/votive.htm) by Jimmy Dunn
An Overview of Ancient Egyptian Religion (http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/religion.htm) by John Watson
The Ethics and Morality of the Ancient Egyptians (http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/ethics.htm) by John Warre
An Overview of the Ancient Egyptian Cult (http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/cults.htm) by Jefferson Monet

There has to be some other resources out there...books and things. Have you tried searching Amazon or anything?

As fas as modern Kemetics, it varies with what one puts emphasis on. Kemetic Orthodoxy (HON) seems to be a mix of reconstructionalist practices and personal peity. Similar to Hellenismos and some other paths. I think because there's more info about the state religions modern worshipers draw from there for their rituals, festivals, etc.

[Temwa]

Banu also discusses this in her journal: Musings on Ntjr and the common folk (http://fyrekat.livejournal.com/60380.html)

[Zephyrstorm]

Its also useful to remember that the priests most likely held their positions temporarily - the rest of the time, they were laborers, farmers, scribes, etc.

[Lemon]

Thanks for the info and links, I've skimmed through them but will definitely read them once finals are over. (college...yay).

I don't feel the need to do rituals or anything that seems "priest" -like, so I thought I'd try to compare my personal faith with that of Ancient Egyptian common folk.