Grave Goods in Ancient Egypt

SUPPLIES FOR THE AFTER-LIFE IN ANCIENT EGYPT

palm trees

According to the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago: “The tomb-owner would continue after death the occupations of this life and so everything required was packed in the tomb along with the body. Writing materials were often supplied along with clothing, wigs, hairdressing supplies and assorted tools, depending on the occupation of the deceased. [Source: ABZU, University of Chicago Oriental Institute, oi-archive.uchicago.edu ==]

“Often model tools rather than full size ones would be placed in the tomb; models were cheaper and took up less space and in the after-life would be magically transformed into the real thing. The images presented here include a headrest, glass vessels which may have contained perfume and a slate palette for grinding make-up. Food was provided for the deceased and should the expected regular offerings of the descendants cease, food depicted on the walls of the tomb would be magically transformed to supply the needs of the dead.” ==

Items excavated from tombs include include “a triangular shaped piece of bread (part of the food offerings from a tomb) along with two tomb scenes. The latter contain representations of food items which the tomb owner would have eaten in his lifetime and hoped to eat in the after-life. The two tomb scenes show the tomb owners sitting in front of offering tables piled high with bread. The representations of food, along with the accompanying prayers were thought to supply the tomb owner once the actual food offerings stopped.” ==

Ken Johnson wrote in New York Times that the ancient Egyptians believed that life “was only a prologue to the main attraction, the afterlife, and they devoted much of their tremendous creative and technological ingenuity to ensuring that their dead — the wealthy ones, anyway — would have everything needed on the next plane of existence. They pickled the bodies of the deceased, stocked their graves and tombs with food, drink, jewelry, furniture, pets, reading material and whatever else that might come in handy upon awakening in the next dimension." [Source: Ken Johnson, New York Times, March 11, 2010 ***]

In 2010, the Brooklyn Museum hosted an exhibition called “To Live Forever: Art and the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt," which focused on objects for the afterlife and explored all facets of the Egyptian funerary industry. Organized by Edward Bleiberg, the museum's curator of Egyptian art, the exhibition presented more than 100 objects, from massive stone sarcophagus covers and elaborately decorated wooden coffins to statuettes and elegant ink drawings on sheets of papyrus. ***

“One of the exhibition's least prepossessing objects," Ken Johnson wrote in the New York Times, “is a terra-cotta sarcophagus lid molded rather crudely into a cartoonish, bust-length portrait of a man. Made sometime between 1292 and 1075 B.C., it is like the work of an untrained folk artist imitating the kind of deluxe Egyptian artistry that museums have made more familiar. It is included to demonstrate that the quality of a coffin depended on what the family could afford. Just like today, in ancient Egypt professional coffin makers offered a range of options priced according to the cost of material and labor. Clay, painted to resemble royal sarcophagi, was the material of choice for budget-minded customers. [Source: Ken Johnson, New York Times, March 11, 2010 ***]

“Another revealing piece, and a more beautiful one, is an 8 ½-inch-tall figure of a man smoothly carved in lustrous dark wood, from about 1400 to 1336 B.C. It is a particularly lovely example of a shabty (see below).. Rich people had shabties made of precious materials, including wood, which was a rare commodity. The less fortunate had to settle for shabties made of faience, a glazed earthenware...Faience pieces did not necessarily look cheap, however, so rich as well as poor had shabties made from it. Among the exhibition's most striking objects is a weird jade-green faience sculpture less than three inches high representing a dwarf standing with each foot on the head of an alligator and each hand gripping a snake by the neck. Identified as Pataikos or a form of the dwarf-god Bes, this little fellow was put into a tomb to protect the dead.”

“Faience pieces did not necessarily look cheap, however, so rich as well as poor had shabties made from it. Among the exhibition’s most striking objects is a weird jade-green faience sculpture less than three inches high representing a dwarf standing with each foot on the head of an alligator and each hand gripping a snake by the neck. Identified as Pataikos or a form of the dwarf-god Bes, this little fellow was put into a tomb to protect the dead.

Common Grave Goods in Ancient Egypt

Amulets in the shape of scarab beetles were sometimes buried with the deceased in ancient Egypt. "The sacred scarab was believed by the Egyptians to be what moved the sun across the sky, much like the scarab beetle moved a ball of dung on the sand," Gene Kritsky, a professor emeritus of biology at Mount St. Joseph University who has researched and written about Egyptian scarab amulets, told Live Science. "Small funerary [scarab] amulets were carved on the underside showing the beetle's legs. Some were carved so accurately that they could be identified to species," Kritsky said. "These scarabs were stitched into the mummy linen, and served as protection for the deceased," Kritsky noted, adding that thousands of scarabs have been found in Egypt. [Source: Owen Jarus, Live Science, February 25, 2024]

Jewelry — including necklaces, rings and brooches — was buried with the deceased in ancient Egypt. Owen Jarus wrote in Live Science: The wealthier the individual, the more elaborate the jewelry. For instance, Tutankhamun's tomb contained a large amount of jewelry, including elaborate pectorals, a type of jewelry that was sometimes placed near a person's chest. The design of two of the pectorals in the boy king's tomb were very elaborate and included depictions of winged scarab beetles, poppy flowers and lunar crescents, Susan Allen, a senior research scholar at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, wrote in her book "Tutankhamun's Tomb: The Thrill of Discovery" (Met Publications, 2006). [Source: Owen Jarus, Live Science, February 25, 2024]

Archaeologists have also found wooden models of boats in ancient Egyptian tombs. One notable example is from the tomb of Djehutynakht, a governor who lived around 4,000 years ago and was buried with 55 model boats in his tomb at the site of Deir el-Bersha, according to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. These include boats for troop or freight transport and boats for hunting and fishing. One of the boats is shown transporting what appears to have been the mummy of Djehutynakht. [Source: Owen Jarus, Live Science, February 25, 2024]

Grave Goods in the Naqadan Burials

Naqada grave good

Alice Stevenson of the Pitt Rivers Museum at Oxford wrote: “Predynastic burials were subterranean pits dug into the ground. Initially, oval pits were the norm, but over the course of the Predynastic Period there was a trend towards larger, more rectangular graves. “In late Naqada II ( 3450–3300 B.C.) , some funerary offerings in larger tombs came to be placed in separate niches, presaging the compartmentalization of Pharaonic Period tombs. [Source: Alice Stevenson, Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford, UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology 2009, escholarship.org ]

“The Neolithic burials at Merimde were usually without grave goods, and at el-Omari only one small pot was generally included. In contrast, from the Badarian onward, the investment in burial symbolism was more pronounced, and the dead could be accompanied to the grave by numerous types of accoutrements, the number of which varied considerably depending upon period and social factors, including status. In all periods, several interments were still entirely devoid of offerings, although decomposition of organic offerings as well as grave robbing may account for some of these absences. Yet other graves contained numerous artifacts, with the average number of grave goods increasing from the Badarian through to mid-Naqada II; approximately only 2 percent of graves contained more than 10 goods in Badarian times compared to roughly 13 percent in Naqada I and II. From Naqada I-III, fewer and fewer individuals were buried in graves that possessed abundant grave goods.

“Ceramics are the most prominent offerings in all periods, but the profile of pottery types changed significantly. In Naqada I, ceramic offerings were primarily fine-wares made up of black-topped (B-ware) vessels (comprising over 50 percent assemblage), red polished (P-ware) vessels, and occasionally white cross-lined (C- ware) vessels. In Naqada II, these fine black- topped ceramics declined in number, C-ware disappeared, and there was a shift towards the inclusion of larger quantities of coarser fabric vessels (rough-ware), sometimes numbering in the hundreds in elite tombs, as well as the introduction of marl clay vessels. This shift from fewer fine containers to greater numbers of rougher forms has been related to the increasing importance of storage of offerings and vestiges of complex burial rites. These include: remains of bread, beer, and animal products, remnants perhaps of a funeral feast shared with and presented to the deceased; charcoal and ashes, possibly from a ‘great burning’, the residue of which was transferred to the grave; or ‘dummy offerings’ of sand, earth, or mud. This diversity of contents reflects the increasing complexity of mortuary rituals and social obligations that were conducted at and around burials.

“Other than pottery, beads, sometimes of a wide variety of materials, are the most common artifacts found, but a diverse array of stone vessels (especially in Naqada II), mudstone palettes, flint bladelets, and knives are also fairly frequent. Clay figurines, stone maceheads, animal bones, pendants, and ivory spoons or pins are found more sporadically. Notable is the increasingly wide repertoire of goods, such as lapis lazuli, obtained via long- distance exchange during Naqada II, interpreted as forming part of a prestige- goods economy. In particular the imported Canaanite jars (over 400) from the early Naqada III, twelve-chambered tomb U-j at Abydos give some indication as to the social abilities of emerging leaders.

“Grave goods were often carefully arranged around the corpse, and it has been remarked that Naqadan mortuary traditions included a ‘formula’ in which “… each object had its appointed position” and that there were “fixed rituals for funeral observance”. There is certainly a recurring structure to many tombs, particularly those from Naqada IIC onwards, with wavy- handled jars usually placed above the head, large storage jars below the feet, and objects such as small stone jars and palettes neatly placed near the head and hands. It may not be possible to have insight into the complete symbolic content of these practices, but perhaps in the patterns created by their repetition it is possible to gain a sense that there were socially specific understandings of how a burial should be properly, and efficaciously, conducted, in a manner that suggests the grave could act as an arena for display-orientated practices. Nevertheless, to say that mortuary rituals were ‘fixed’ is an overstatement as no two Predynastic burials are identical. Rather than there being a universal set of rules governing arrangement, there seem to have been general principles that permitted an improvisatory performance of burial.

“Such choice in funeral arrangements is also clear from the objects selected for inclusion in the tomb. It was previously assumed that some objects were made specifically for mortuary consumption, such as decorated pottery (D-ware). Examination of use-wear and settlement deposits has demonstrated, however, that this is not the case and that the majority of tomb paraphernalia derived from daily life. Nevertheless, with the benefit of concurrent excavation of cemeteries and settlement at Adaima, it is evident that whilst all the pottery recorded from the cemetery is attested in the settlement, only certain forms from the settlement were deemed to be appropriate in a funeral context. Comparison of the types of flints found in settlement and burial contexts also reveals preferential selection for blades, bladelets, and knives for use in mortuary arenas. Palettes may also have been used differently in funeral contexts in comparison to everyday life, with green malachite staining predominant in burial contexts but red ochre more common on settlement palettes.”

Treasures from Tutankhamun’s Tomb

headrest from Tutankhamun's tomb

Robert Partridge of the BBC wrote: “In 1922 the discovery of the virtually intact tomb of Tutankhamun became probably the best known and most spectacular archaeological find anywhere in the world. The small tomb contained hundreds of objects (now housed in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo), many richly decorated and covered in gold, that would be needed by the king in his afterlife. [Source: Robert Partridge, BBC, February 17, 2011]

“A Ushabti figure: Tutankhamun's tomb contained 413 Ushabti figures, intended to represent the king and to help him with certain duties in the afterlife. Some are very simple, but others, such as the one here, were carved from wood and are portraits of the king. The figure is shown as a wrapped mummy wearing a gilded crown and holding the royal emblems, the Crook and the Flail. |::|

“The king's mannequin: This unusual mannequin or effigy of Tutankhamun is life-sized and shows his upper torso and head, but without any arms. It is made of wood, covered in plaster and painted, and it is a very life-like representation of the king. The exact use of this figure is not certain, but it may have been used to display Tutankhamun's robes or necklaces and collars. |::|

Gold mask: Found covering the head and shoulders of Tutankhamun's mummy, this is perhaps the most famous Egyptian antiquity ever found, and a splendid example of the art of the goldsmith. Made of solid gold, inlaid with semi-precious stones and coloured glass paste, the face is an idealised portrait of the young king. Two protective animals, the cobra and vulture, are shown on the forehead, and the king wears the Nemes head-dress, the false beard of the gods and a broad inlaid collar. |::|

“The goddess Selket: The king's internal organs were placed in a Canopic Chest, which was enclosed in an elaborate wooden gilded chest, each side of which was protected by a statue of a goddess. |This goddess is Selket, who wears her emblem, a scorpion, on her head. The figure is highly naturalistic, with her arms outstretched to protect the chest and its contents, and her head is inclined slightly to one side. |::|

“Stoppers from the Canopic Chest: The Canopic Chest for Tutankhamun's internal organs was made of a large block of delicately veined and translucent calcite, with four compartments, each sealed by a stopper carved to represent the king. Each compartment contained a miniature coffin holding the organs. Tutankhamun is shown wearing the Nemes head-dress and with the protective cobra and vulture on his brow. |::|

Boat Burial in Ancient Egypt

Jason Urbanus wrote in Archaeology magazine, in the 2010s, archaeologists from the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology have been excavating an ancient Egyptian boat burial in Abydos. Although very little of the actual vessel survives, it was originally interred in a vaulted subterranean mudbrick building. The site dates to around 1850 B.C., and is believed to have been part of the elaborate funerary complex of the 12th Dynasty king Senusret III. “Boats were used during funerary ceremonies and took on a magical significance,” says lead archaeologist Josef Wegner. “The boats used in this way were ritually buried as a means of emphasizing this symbolic connection with the deceased.” [Source:Jason Urbanus, Archaeology magazine, January-February 2017]

“The team recently uncovered a decorative tableau that was incised into the white plaster walls along the interior of the boat building. The surviving scene extends for over 80 feet and depicts more than 120 ancient Egyptian watercraft, along with animals and floral motifs. The renditions of the boats range in size and complexity, with the largest measuring five feet long, with finely detailed masts, sails, rigging, and deckhouses. Researchers are still unsure who made these etchings, as the images do not compose a single unified scene, but appear to have been created by several different hands of varying talent. It is likely that the carvings were left by individuals who were involved in the funerary ceremonies and participated in depositing the boat.

Oldest Egyptian Funerary Boat

In 2012, archaeologists announced that what was originally thought be a wooden floor is in fact the oldest Egyptian funerary boat. The 20-foot boat dates to 2950 B.C. and was found at the cemetery of Abu Rawash, eight kilometers north of Giza, near Cairo. [Source: Eric A. Powell, Archaeology magazine, December 6, 2012]

Eric A. Powell wrote in Archaeology magazine: “Egyptologist Yann Tristant was reading a 1914 excavation report on a First Dynasty (ca. 3150–2890 B.C.) tomb at the elite cemetery of Abu Rawash when he noticed something strange. The author, legendary French archaeologist Pierre Montet, wrote that just north of the mudbrick tomb, or mastaba, he had uncovered a wooden floor. That seemed bizarre to Tristant, of Macquarie University in Sydney, because he knew that no other archaeologists have reported finding wooden floors around mastabas. Sensing a mystery, he directed his team to excavate at the same spot Montet had almost a century before. The hunch paid off and led Tristant to a pit bounded by a brick wall that held the oldest boat found in Egypt.

“It’s clear the boat played some role in the burial ceremonies of the tomb’s owner, a high-ranking official. Tristant uncovered artifacts nearby that point to a lavish funerary feast, including ceramic beer jars and bread molds. Ceremonial boats have been found at tombs at royal cemeteries; they were intended to symbolically carry pharaohs into the afterlife. But since so few boats have been found at nonroyal tombs, Tristant hesitates to speculate exactly what religious function the Abu Rawash vessel served. “It’s a good example of why we must sometimes re-excavate sites,” says Tristant. “I never would have expected to find a boat at a tomb like this.”

Shabtis

shabati of Khabekhnet and Iineferty

Figurines called shabti were often buried with the deceased. Their purpose was to do the deceased's work in the afterlife for them. Shabtis were small burial figurines that served like magical servants, doing chores for the deceased in the afterlife. Rich people often had had many shabties. According to an Brooklyn Museum catalog on ancient Egyptian grave goods the wealthy might have a different shabty for every day of the year, “40 shabties were an ideal number to own in the Ramesside Period” because that provided “enough workers for each of the 30 days of the month plus overseers and foremen." [Source: Ken Johnson, New York Times, March 11, 2010]

According to the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago: “During and after the annual flood of the Nile, the population were subject to compulsory labour on state projects such as building and maintenance of the irrigation system. In life it would be possible to avoid this by providing a substitute; in death, mummiform figurines or "Answerers" could serve the same purpose. The Egyptian words for these statuettes (usually called shabtis in English), are ushabti and shawabti. These words are of uncertain origin but may have been derived from the Egyptian word wSb(1) meaning "answer." [Source: ABZU, University of Chicago Oriental Institute, oi-archive.uchicago.edu ]

“The backs of these figurines were inscribed with Chapter 6 of "The Book of the Dead." This spell ensured that if the owner of the shabti was called upon at any time to do any kind of compulsory labour the shabti would respond and perform the duty instead of its owner. The practice of including these figurines in burials started during the Middle Kingdom (ca. 2040-1640 B.C.(2)) when only one was usually included in the burial. The practice continued and by the Third Intermediate Period (ca. 1070-712 B.C.)there were sometimes so many in a burial that the shabtis were put in a special box: the custom had become to have one shabti for every day of the year with 36 overseer shabtis. The practice of including these figurines in burials died out in the Ptolemaic Period (332 B.C.-395 AD).

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources: UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology, escholarship.org ; Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Egypt sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; Tour Egypt, Minnesota State University, Mankato, ethanholman.com; Mark Millmore, discoveringegypt.com discoveringegypt.com; Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Geographic, Smithsonian magazine, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Discover magazine, Times of London, Natural History magazine, Archaeology magazine, The New Yorker, BBC, Encyclopædia Britannica, Time, Newsweek, Wikipedia, Reuters, Associated Press, The Guardian, AFP, Lonely Planet Guides, “World Religions” edited by Geoffrey Parrinder (Facts on File Publications, New York); “History of Warfare” by John Keegan (Vintage Books); “History of Art” by H.W. Janson Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.), Compton’s Encyclopedia and various books and other publications.

Last updated July 2024