‘Taking ancient Egyptian mortuary
religion seriously’:
How could we, and why would we?
Rune Nyord, Freie Universität Berlin
Anthropology and Egyptology Symposium
Cambridge, 24–25/7/2017
The limits of Egyptology
A.H. Gardiner (1879–1963), The
Queen’s College, Oxford
‘There can be no doubt that, while to ourselves the
contents of our Sobk hymns must appear to be
unmitigated rubbish, the Egyptians will have found
in them mystical charms which stirred their pious
emotions. It must at least be realized that with
their traditional understanding of mythological
allusion much that strikes ourselves as meaningless
will to the subjects of Ammenemes have sounded
profound and have awakened colourful images.
This, however, is the concern of the psychologist
and of the student of comparative religions rather
than of the Egyptologist as such. The latter is in the
first instance merely a purveyor of the scanty
material that has survived, and he has plenty of
grounds of his own, lexical, grammatical and
interpretative, to sustain his interest in what might
otherwise seem intolerably arid.’
Gardiner, RdE 11 (1957), 55f.
How crazy were the ancient Egyptians?
Goscinny and Uderzo, Astérix et Cléopâtre, 1965
Plan of MMA excavations at Lisht 1914
(Arnold 1988: Pl. 80) with early–mid 13th
Dynasty shabti deposits.
Plan of the tomb of Tetiky, Dra Abu el-Naga (TT 15). Whelan
2007: 11.
Shabti of User(?),
British Museum
EA 49130.
The Quest for Immortality?
The Field of Hetep (chapter 110) from the Book of the Dead of Ani (c. 1275 BCE,
British Museum, EA 10470/3)
The universality of afterlife beliefs in
Victorian thought
‘It appears almost impossible for man not to
conceive of himself as composed of two
elements, a corporeal and a spiritual principle,
to which a different destiny is assigned, when
their temporary union is dissolved by death. The
larger and grosser part is visibly restored to the
earth; but it is only by the analogical reasonings
of philosophy that men have ever been brought
to believe that the soul is involved in the same
destruction. The instinct of nature prompts to a
belief in its continued existence, which is the
more easily cherished, because it has no
sensible properties distinct from matter.’
(Kenrick 1852: I, 396)
‘The quest for immortality’ as research
hypothesis
• Any archaeological object can be argued to
have been of use in the afterlife
• Any textual description or allusion can be
argued to refer to the afterlife
In other words, no empirical evidence can falsify
the ‘quest for immortality’ hypothesis.
A new approach to Egyptian mortuary
religion
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Social context
Conceptual framework
Mortuary texts
Material culture
Bodies
Social context
The tomb owner at the offering table, tomb of Mehu (6th Dynasty, Saqqara)
Conceptual framework
Mortuary texts
Head board from the inner coffin of general Sepi, Bersheh, 12th Dynasty.
Material culture
Full-size (c. 19 cm) ‘dummy’ vase
of wood (Sheikh Abd el-Qurna
,18th Dynasty). Metropolitan
Museum of Art, 12.182.24
Weavers, tomb of Djehutynakht (Bersheh 10A,
early 11th–late 12th Dynasty). Boston Museum of
Fine Arts 21.891
Bodies
Burial of the king’s daughter Khenmet, Dahshur, 12th Dynasty (de Morgan 1903:
46)
Perspectives
Estate figure from tomb of Meketre, Assasif (TT 280, 12th Dynasty).
Metropolitan Museum of Art, 20.3.7.
With thanks to
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Christ’s College, Cambridge
The Carlsberg Foundation
The Isaac Newton Trust
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft