Ancient Egyptian Burial Customs - History

History

Though no writing survives from predynastic Egypt, scholars believe the importance of the physical body and its preservation originated there. This would explain why people of that time did not follow the common practice of cremation, but rather buried the dead. Some also believe they may have feared the bodies would rise again if mistreated after death.

Early burials had the body of the deceased buried in a simple, shallow oval pit, with a few burial goods placed around them. Sometimes multiple people and animals were placed in the same grave. Over time, graves became more complex, with the body placed in a wicker basket, then later in wooden or terracotta coffins. These graves contained burials goods like jewellery and sharpened splint.

This demonstrates that this ancient period had a sense of the afterlife, though archaeological evidence may show the average person had little chance of getting into it. This may be because admission required that the deceased must be able to serve a purpose there. The Pharaoh was allowed in because of his role in life, and others needed to have some role there.

Human sacrifices found in early royal tombs reinforce this view. These people were probably meant to serve the pharaoh during his eternal life. Eventually, figurines and wall paintings begin to replace human victims. Some of these figurines may have been created to resemble certain people, so they could follow the Pharaoh after their lives ended.

Note that not only the lower classes had to rely on the Pharaoh’s favour, but also the noble classes. They believed that when he died, the pharaoh became a type of god, who could bestow upon certain individuals the ability to have an afterlife. This belief existed from the pre-dynastic period through the Old Kingdom.

Though many spells from the predeceasing texts were carried over, the new coffin texts also had additional new spells added, along with slight changes made to make this new funerary text more relatable to the nobility. In the First Intermediate Period, however, the importance of the pharaoh declined. Funerary texts, previously restricted to royal use, became more widely available. The pharaoh was no longer a god-king in the sense that only he was allowed in the next life due to his status here, now he was merely the ruler of the population who upon his death would be leveled down towards the plane of the mortals.