Changing Values in Egyptian Burial at the End of the Late Bronze Age

Egyptian 20th and 21st Dynasty (1190-945 BCE) funerary arts from Thebes find their origins within the social unrest of the Late Bronze Age. In Thebes, funerary preparations were challenged with limited burial space, scarce material resources, tomb robbery, and re-use. Surviving funerary materials reflect a variety of defensive innovations while at the same time preserving the ability of elite families to shore up social power by means of funerary displays.
The mummy is perhaps our best evidence for these defensive burial adaptations, as it was the only part of the Egyptian burial that could not be re-used by someone else and returned to the sphere of the commodity. Investments in mummification probably provided psychological security for Theban elites, with the heightened intent of perfectly preserving the flesh and bone of the deceased for eternity.

Kathlyn (Kara) Cooney is Assistant Professor of Egyptian Art and Architecture at UCLA.

This talk is sponsored by the Archaeology Research Focus Group, with cooperation from the Ancient Mediterranean Studies program.

jwil 23.ii.2011