Social Aspects of Funerary Culture in the Egy[p]tian Old and Middle Kingdoms Proceedings of the International Symposium Held at Leiden University, 6-7 June, 1996

Although Egyptian tombs and funerary texts have been intensively studied, attention has been focused on art historical aspects, archaeological documentation and theological content. Attention for the relationship between burial practices and society has been restricted. The symposium of which this volume presents the proceedings is an attempt to show the scientific potential of the sociology of burial. The underlying philosophy is that both archaeological and textual sources are ultimately reflections of one social reality. Therefore, the volume offers contributions by archaeologists and philologists, many of which frequently bridge the gap between the two disciplines. Bourriau studies the evolution of body position in burials dating between the late Middle Kingdom and early New Kingdom. Delrue reviews a recent interpretation of the predynastic cemetery N7000 at Naga ed-Deir. Fitzenreiter studies the sociological background of ritual scenes in Old Kingdom mastabas. Frandsen's analysis touches upon funerary texts touching on substances inside the body which are considered bwt (taboo). The point of departure for Muller's study is a group of offering deposits at Tell el-dab'a which are studied in the light of textual information on ritual practice. Seidlmayer argues that burial contexts of the First Intermediate Period at Elephantine reflect the same underlying ideas as contemporary tomb scenes. Willems' commentary of Coffin Texts spells 30-41 interprets these texts as a coherent mortuary liturgy and discusses the context in which the letters to the dead were transmitted to the deceased.