The readings this week on the different mortuary practices in Egypt had some very interesting information within them. Thinking of tomb decorations as something to aspire is very strange from our modern viewpoint, but looking at it from an Egyptian viewpoint shows that these might have actually been exciting developments for the common people. “… non – royal individuals progressively gaining access to elements which had previously been restricted to the king.” (Taylor 2010: 224) This gradual process of the “democratization of the afterlife” began near the end of the Old Kingdom in Egypt. Things like new funerary texts and kingly attributes were now allowed to be painted on the siding, or friezes, of coffins belonging to non-royal people. In the new kingdom people were able to use the architectural shapes of royal tombs and pyramids in their own private tombs. Despite the allowance of these previously royal exclusive mortuary benefits, the boundary between rulers and commoners was unchanged.
One thing that commoners would never have though is the ability to be buried within the Valley of the Kings. In the New Kingdom each pharaoh’s body was buried in its own tomb cut out of the rock faces in the Valley of the Kings. It is very interesting that none of the royal tombs had a superstructure above them. Archaeologists think that the peak of El-Qurn might have served as a collective natural pyramid for all of the pharaohs buried beneath it, which I personally found very fascinating. The queens and the pharaoh’s children were given less elaborate tombs, although sometimes they would be buried together with the pharaoh in massive tomb collections like that of Ramesses II in the KV-5 tomb in the Valley of the Kings. Other times, the queens were buried in their own tombs in the Valley of the Queens.
Burial practices for royals were different during the third intermediate period of Egypt, which came after the New Kingdom. The tombs were no longer in specific mortuary landscapes that were occupied solely by royalty. They were buried in the settlement of Tanis, within the walls of a temple to Amun. The tombs did not seem to be separate units any longer, indicating that they may have been planned as family burial tombs for rulers that were related to each other. Another deviation from past burials was the reduced amount of grave goods that the rulers were buried with. They still had all of the usual artifacts, just not in the large amount that rulers from previous lines had. Some grave goods were even recycled from previous burials to be used in new ones.
It is very interesting of the vast differences and changes in the Ancient Egyptian culture from the New Kingdom and into the Third Intermediate Period. There is a clear distinction of difference and change in the way of those who hold the most influential power during this time (i.e. the Pharaohs and Kings) were buried. During the New Kingdom a Pharaoh was shown to have the strongest connection into the afterlife and the relationships with those under him such as his subjects and even those who were in the royal family were segregated from his burial. The idea of separation diminished during the Third Intermediate Period of Egypt. During this era, the tombs that held the rulers were buried with those who he ruled with. There was a connection between the ruler and his subjects. It was also interesting that the materials and what was known to be the grave goods which defines the amount of power one has in the afterlife that were buried with one had also changed in value. During the New Kingdom, the pharaoh’s goods were known as the richest and had the utmost value which in their religious beliefs, were brought with them into the afterlife. But during the Third Intermediate Period, artifacts and materials diminished greatly in value. They were known as recycled and reused items from previous burials. Overall it is very intriguing to see the importance of the dramatic cultural change in the viewpoint of Ancient Egyptian times.
I found this interesting myself about the changes in mortuary practices. The fact that certain burials for the longest time were restricted to only kings, such as the building of pyramids is quite interesting. My question is, why did it change? Was it because of a more societal equality or was it because mortuary practices became less elaborate going into and in the Third Intermediate Period?
Another thing I found interesting were the changes in the burial of kings. It went from a tomb all alone with just the king to tombs with kings and their families and court personnel. The change in the funerary texts were interesting as well. Excerpts from The Book of Gates and the Littany of Ra where prominent in the New Kingdom in the kings’ tomb to The Book of the Dead during the Third Intermediate Period. The fact that non-royal individuals were also allowed these funerary texts at that time as well when they had always been reserved for the king to me shows that mortuary practices during the Third Intermediate Period had declined significantly from before. Either that or they just didn’t care as much about the afterlife of their royalty. Was this due to a lack of funding, less religious, or a lack of respect for their kings?
The change in non-royal burials outside of the actual tombs was interesting. I was a little irritated when I read that the Ramasseum was structurally changed to accommodate elite tombs. This also seemed to affect the stability of the structure as well. This seemed to me to be disrespectful to a very powerful king in Egyptian history.
I think you did a great job at analyzing everything from this reading and identified key parts that changed from the Old Kingdom to the Late Period.