While I was reading the textbook, “An Introduction to the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt,” I found it very interesting to see how important the idea of afterlife and preparation for it was to people in Ancient Upper Egypt. The amount of work put into these burials help show the importance of afterlife for people in Ancient Upper Egypt, even in the Predynastic Period. The Predynastic Period in Upper Egypt is broken down into three major times (Naqada I – III), named after the largest known Predynastic site of the same name. In earlier periods, most burials were small and contained few grave goods. As time passed, it became evident that social stratification was taking place with more grave goods and more elaborate burials being built for people of higher status.
Naqada I was mostly characterized by small graves that were oval in shape. A site typical of Naqada I time and culture is a cemetery outside the larger site of Naqada, called the Great New Race Cemetery by archaeologist Flinders Petrie. Burials in the cemetery that date to Naqada I were small and contained few grave goods. Another cemetery dating from Naqada I lies in the Wadi Abu el-Suffian in Hierakonpolis, which was a more elite cemetery. Excavations of Naqada I dated burials included a burial pit containing over 115 pots, ceramic masks, and other artifacts in exotic materials. The burial pit was also associated with several subsidiary graves and the burials of animals. The difference between these two sites show that there was already beginning to be a difference the wealth and social status of different groups of people.
Naqada II was characterized by similar graves to Naqada I, but with an increase in the inequality between graves for the average person and graves for higher status persons. At the Great New Race Cemetery near Naqada, some Naqada II graves were a little larger in size than others and contained more grave goods than others. To the south of the Great New Race Cemetery was Cemetery T, which has been dubbed a burial place of Predynastic elite due to its high status burials. In Cemetery T, the graves were larger than those at the Great New Race Cemetery and three of them had more elaborate structures that were lined with mud-brick. Some graves that were undisturbed from looting contained artifacts of carved stone vessels and jewelry made from exotic materials. In Hierakonpolis, some Naqada II tombs were decorated with scenes painted on plastered walls. These more elaborate tombs show a more diverse social status between different groups in Upper Egypt than previously seen in Naqada I.
Naqada III had an even greater increase in variety of graves and grave goods found within them. In Hierakonpolis, three tombs were found lined in mud-brick. The earliest of these bombs was found with many elaborate materials such as a wooden bed and amulets of gold, silver, carnelian, and many others. Another of the tombs had a large superstructure made of wood and reeds with a fence around it. Another contained a ceramic coffin and clay sealings with hieroglyphs for “town” and “god.”
I found it interesting how you broke down Egyptian mortuary practices not in comparison to mortuary practices in other societies at similar times, but just in Egypt across different time periods. In this way, you managed to circumvent a lot of the problems with Lewis Binford’s 1971 study of mortuary practices in which he concluded that there is a direct correlation between an individual’s status in life and the complexity of their burial. By looking at mortuary practices in just Egypt, the cultural context is maintained, while your can see the changes in mortuary practices as a function of changing values at different periods in a singular area, not as a function of vastly different cultures. It was fascinating to see how increasing social stratification between Naqada I and Naqada III is reflected in the size and complexity of burial sites here. You mentioned that even during Naqada I, some individuals were buried with as many as 115 pots, though most burials were indeed smaller. I did find it interesting how, during Naqada II, social stratification is evident not just in discrepancies between graves within a single cemetery, but in the existence of separate cemeteries for more elite members of society, such as in Cemetery T. In the Naqada III period, you discussed how the types of grave goods an individual was buried with would reflect something about that status in life as well, not just the quantity of grave goods they were buried with. For example, large superstructures, as well as the appearance of gold, silver, and carnelian were also indicators of an individuals wealth and status. Your blog post provided a great synthesis of this part of the textbook and what was discussed in lecture, and I found it very interesting to read.
I too enjoyed your post and how you provided a very thorough synopsis of this particular section of the book. I wrote about mortuary practices as well, but I discussed how they do or don’t relate to social status and wealth. My argument backed up Bard’s thoughts that different societies have different cultures and beliefs and so therefore, it can not always be assumed that grandiose graves and grave goods (or the lack of these two things) directly correlates to social hierarchy.
I really liked how you evaluated the cultural and religious values of Egyptians by comparing grave sites from different time periods in Egyptian history. It really helped to show the progression of Egyptian culture and the evolution of their beliefs in the afterlife as well. In the earlier graves there were not as many grave goods. This could have meant that as a whole the society was poorer. It also could have been because in earlier days the Egyptians did not value materialistic items as well. It could also reflect a lack of sophistication of their religious beliefs about the afterlife. For instance, maybe they didn’t believe that people would need as many things after death as they later would believe after developing their religious beliefs more.
I also liked how you brought to attention how Naqada II brought about a much more obvious separation between different classes of people. Graves began to vary between different groups of people. This could mean that the population grew, and different classes of people began to arise. Honestly, your whole blog post was very insightful and left me analyzing the graves with my own thought processes.