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Project

Perspectives on the so-called 'late Middle Kingdom funerary assemblage'. A Middle Bronze Age Egyptian funerary practice in the light of urban culture, religion, and cultural interrelations.

The aim of the research is to offer a new perspective on the development of an important subset of  funerary material culture during the Egyptian Middle Kingdom (c. 2000-1750 BC) and to offer a method for studying changes within funerary assemblages.

The Middle Kingdom was a period of profound socio-cultural changes and it has been argued that these changes are reflected in the evolution of the funerary material. During the later phase of the Middle Kingdom a new range of objects started to appear within the funerary assemblage (the so-called ‘late Middle Kingdom assemblage’), characterised by small faience figurines, decorated hippopotamus tusks and models of food and pottery. Although this assemblage is often used as a dating criterion, its origin(s) and composition are poorly understood.

The research focuses specifically on this range of objects and argues that the ‘late Middle Kingdom funerary assemblage’ was rooted in earlier traditions. It will also test the applicability of a recent hypothesis suggesting that it may have been influenced by a foreign component within Egyptian society. The study aims to establish 1) how, where and when this assemblage (or parts of it) emerged and how it was distributed on both a national and international level; 2) if, and how, it is rooted in earlier indigenous Middle Kingdom traditions and 3) which characteristics can be assigned to a foreign, Syro-Palestinian culture; 4) whether it is justified to speak of a ‘late Middle Kingdom’ funerary assemblage; 5) how the objects are to be interpreted within the total funerary assemblage and 6) whether the process of material change reflects the social and cultural changes previously put forward.

The overarching goals are to explore strategies for analysing trends in funerary assemblages, determining diagnostic items within this assemblage, value their use for periodisation and cultural variation, and consider whether they are rightfully attributed to different chronological (and social) phases. The research will aid in understanding the change of burial customs as a reflection of socio-economic and cultural change in Egypt and place it within a broader, intercultural perspective.

Date:1 Oct 2015 →  31 Oct 2019
Keywords:funerary assemblage, Middle Bronze Age, Egyptian funerary practice, urban culture, religion, cultural interrelations, late Middle Kingdom
Disciplines:History, Archaeology, Theory and methodology of archaeology, Other history and archaeology
Project type:PhD project