The International Conference "You Established the Sky, You Illuminated It with Light: Sacredness at Deir el-Medina" was organized by the center for archaeological studies CAMNES, and took place in Florence (Italy) in March 2024. The main purpose of this event was to gather scholars from all over the world to reconsider the role of sacredness in one of the central settlements of ancient Egypt: Deir el-Medina. Deir el-Medina, in fact, is a pivotal site in Egyptology, and a major case-study in the inquiry of the importance of religious beliefs for ancient Egyptians. Because of the uniqueness of this village, the central theme of the Conference has been interpreted – both in the Conference itself and in these Proceedings – in multiple ways, by aiming attention at specific facets of the spiritual and devout sentiment, and considering sacredness from a multi- and/or interdisciplinary approach. Rethinking the part played by religion in a fundamental context like the one of Deir el-Medina implies the necessity to investigate the topic from different angles, and the contributions presented in this volume address the subject by offering new and still unexplored perspectives on such a crucial facet of the Egyptological discipline.
