I found this article very interesting in learning about the differences between the different periods of ancient Egypt in regard to burial and mortuary practices. The transition of changes that in some cases were significant and in other cases were not as significant demonstrate the changes in Egyptian society and the regard they had toward their dead. The differences are especially noted between the New Kingdom and Third Intermediate Period.

Some of the transitions I noticed that were significant were the change in royal burials and mortuary practices. During the New Kingdom and even the Middle Kingdom, royal tombs, especially that of the king, were tombs only for the kings. Whereas, in the Third Intermediate Period, the kings were buried in tomb that often contained their families, courtiers and close friends. Their tombs also seemed less elaborate and appeared to be tighter due to the number of burials that were included in the tomb.

Another significant difference were the grave goods buried with those of royal stature as well as those of elite status in society. In the New Kingdom, tombs most of the time contained many grave goods, statues and elaborate wall paintings, seemingly indicating the richness of their society at the time. During the Third Intermediate Period, there was less apparent affluency indicated in the tombs of the royal and elite that have been found, possibly due to the deterioration of the wealth of Egypt during this time. Often times, tombs that had been looted were reused, so it is unknown who was in the tomb before. The reuse of certain grave goods was also common in this period.

Another very interesting difference were the different locations of tombs between the two periods. During the New Kingdom, tombs of the kings still mainly resided in the Valley of the Kings. During the Third Intermediate period they seemed to vary in location depending on the dynasty. An example of this is in the 22nd Dynasty, many notable burials were contained within the Ramesseum. These burials caused remodeling of the Ramesseum in order to fit the tombs within the area of original construction, damaging the infrastructure of Ramesseum.

Although the process of mummification changed between the two periods a little, I saw little of a significant difference between the two as they appeared to each treat the body of the kings and the elite in a very specific custom of mummification.