Introduction
Funeral rites and beliefs were significant for the ancient Egyptian society and were already practiced long before the emergence of the state, somewhere in the era of primitiveness. The concept of life in Ancient Egypt was very different from the common understanding, as they believed that life was to be continued in the tomb, and, in a sense, the tomb was perceived as a countermeasure to death (West 2019). Therefore, art and traditional cult rites of Ancient Egypt were ultimately recognized to preserve the deceased and prepare them for the afterlife.
The Pre-Dynastic and Early Dynastic periods
In the pre-dynastic period, the architecture and the structure of the earliest graves were simple. However, over time, the rituals started to become more complex; for instance, the number of jewelry and all kinds of grave objects gradually increased. During the early dynasty, the Egyptians began to build tombs called “mastaba,” which can be translated as “bench,” and were primarily used for non-royal burials (Tikkanen, 2020). Furthermore, tombs started including furniture, weapons, decorative jugs, amphorae, and cosmetics for the afterlife. Moreover, specific features in the funeral rites of the Egyptians began to manifest themselves, including unique conservation of the body, which formed the basis of the technology of mummification.
Old and Middle Kingdom periods
During the time of the Old Kingdom, the first royal pyramids were built, and were used as tombs for royalties. Mummification by this period was already standard practice. The process of mummification itself is associated with the Egyptian belief that the body of the deceased had to be preserved so that his soul could gain an afterlife (West, 2019). According to West (2019), “the ancient Egyptians believed humans were composed of both physical and non-physical elements” (West, 2019, page 2). Therefore, the afterlife condition of the deceased depended entirely on the preservation of these constituent elements, which could be attained through mummification and the proper structure of the tomb. During the Middle Kingdom, protective spells were often recorded on sarcophagi, which were initially taken from earlier religious scriptures, known as the “Pyramid Texts” (Kropp, 2017). Additionally, objects for graves began to include food, jewelry, wooden boat models, and ushabti figures (Etheredge, 2020). Ushabti were funeral figurines, which were supposed to serve the dead in the afterlife.
The New Kingdom period
During the New Kingdom, the tradition of burying the pharaohs in the Pyramids ceased, as now they were to be buried in the Valley of the Kings. The changes that took place in the burying process also included the number of ushabti figures and objects for the afterlife, which was decreased. Additionally, ancient Egyptians often mummified and sacrificed animals to comfort the dead in the afterlife. Some animals represented gods, and for instance, a bull was somehow associated with Osiris (West, 2019). Bulls were symbols of strength and fertility for the ancient Egyptians, and in some cases, they were considered oracles capable of communicating with the gods (West, 2019). The process of mummification of the bulls was complex and not very similar to the one used in humans, as they were buried in stone graves along with amulets, jewelry, and ushabti.
Conclusion
Egyptian funeral practices continued for nearly two and a half thousand years from about 2686 BC. until 395 A.D. The ceremonies and rituals of the ancient Egyptian burial were formed under the influence of various religious ideas about the afterlife, including the concept of death and judgment of the god Osiris. Therefore, many specifics had to be considered, as the Egyptians deemed the deceased people to revivify and live their new lives in a new dimension, with the same material needs and physical abilities.
References
Etheredge, L. (2020). Ushabti figure. Encyclopedia Britannica. Web.
Kropp, C. (2017). Performativity in Egyptian Funerary Literature: Textual and Material Analysis from the Old, Middle, & New Kingdoms (Bachelor of Arts). Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations of Yale University.
Tikkanen, A. (2020). Mastaba. Funerary structure. Encyclopedia Britannica. Web.
West, G. (2019). The Tekenu and Ancient Egyptian Funerary Ritual. Oxford, Archaeopress.