Life After Death : The Egyptians ' Burial Customs

The coffin and mummy of Djedmaatesankh are known as one of the few unopened coffins, retaining the original seal. Currently, it has been decided not to open the coffin in order to examine the mummy within due to the fact that it would severely damage the artwork and hieroglyphs that have been painted on the outside. The coffin is made of cartonnage, which is created with moulded linen and plaster and is painted on the outermost layer. These paintings describe the story of Djedmaatesankh’s life, as well as references to the Book of Caverns in order to provide the body “with safe protection as it makes its journey through the underworld on its way to eternal life in the Field of Reeds”. The coffin is from the 3rd intermediate period of ancient Egyptian culture and has been dated to 945-715 BC, coinciding with the 22nd Dynasty in which Ian Shaw relays that the “Chief of the Meshwesh Sheshonq (King Sheshonq I)” ruled. The base materials used are linen and plaster to form the cartonnage, and the artwork on the outermost layer uses a combination of paint and gold leaf to create depictions of Djedmaatesankh’s life. Ancient Egyptians used paint made from a mixture of pigment and plaster to paint on coffins and sarcophagi, and the higher classes used increased amounts of gold leaf as well. Djedmaatesankh’s coffin would be classified as funerary art, which had been created to be of use in funerary rituals and practices. Djedmaatesankh’s coffin is an excellent example of the extensive

While there are several notable Egyptian temples, monuments, and tombs; this paper will focus on the analysis and evaluation of the Mortuary Temple of Queen Hatshepsut at Deir el-Bahri, C. 1458 BC. First and foremost, it is important to identify the historical figure who influenced this construction of this temple. Queen Hatshepsut ascended to the throne of Egypt after her son’s passing and was the first and only female pharaoh in about 1473 BC; nearly a thousand years after the construction of the Pyramids at Giza. The

On display in The Metropolitan Museum is the Chair of Reniseneb, which was constructed in 1450 B.C. in Egypt during the New Kingdom period. The Chair of Reniseneb is a wooden chair veneered with ebony, a heavy dark brown timber, and ivory, a hard creamy white substance. The chair is made up of small pieces of wood that is pieced together almost like a puzzle. Egyptian trees did not grow big or thick, therefore big panels of wood needed to be imported which was very expensive. Thus the Egyptian carpenters became really adapt in inlaid work made from small pieces of variously colored wood or other materials. In Ancient Eygypt, the higher ranked an individual was, the taller was the chair or furniture he sat on. The Chair of Reniseneb belonged to the scribe Renyseneb, therefor the chair sits higher on beaded blocks. The legs of the furniture were often carved in the form of animal legs or the hind parts of some animal such as the lion. Therefore, the foot of the Chair of Reniseneb is shaped as an animal paw and the legs of the chair are shaped similar to an animals leg. Both the legs and the feet are veneered with ebony, a heavy dark brown color. The Egyptians enjoyed having cushions which were often were stuffed with dried leaves or goose down, creating a plush seat. Therefore, the seat of the chair was restored to have a woven seat

There were many ways that the Ancient Egyptian society and the Mesopotamian society were similar yet at the same time they were very different. Egyptians and Sumerians agreed on religion in a sense that both cultures were polytheistic. However, the relationships between the gods and goddesses were different between the Sumerians and Egyptians. This essay will discuss those differences in culture, religion and the viewpoints on death and afterlife.

Regardless of social strata, death and the afterlife were almost always valued by the living in ancient Egypt. The afterlife was birthed and designed for great societal rulers but eventually trickled down and was adopted by other levels of society (Murnane in Obayashi, 1992, p. 42). Death was interpreted as “new life in another state” by ancient Egypt, and the ultimate goal of immortality could be attained if specific burial arrangements were made for the dead. This was to avoid a final death of the soul known as the “second death,” and measures such as burial with food, drink, and personal possessions, were taken to aid the soul on its journey into immortality (Murnane in Obayashi, 1992, p. 36).

The Egyptians believed very much in life after death. As Taylor states in Death and the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt, “It is often observed that they appear to have devoted greater efforts and resources to preparing for the afterlife than to creating a convenient environment for living” (Taylor, 2001:12). The Egyptians viewed life on earth as one stage and death as the beginning of another. They believed that, “human existence did not end with death and that survival of the body played a part in the new life” (Taylor, 2001:12). One of the key elements in the Egyptian culture and religion was the preservation of the body. The body was the most important aspect because it was like a portal through which an individual could continue to live

The Felucca is much more prominent in modern civilization than the Sampan, the Felucca is still being used not only for day to day sailing, but tours of the nile as well. The Feluccas all used linen sails to navigate the nile river while on the other hand the Sampan was propelled by the current and oars. The Sampans had more of a spiritual significance throughout the Chinese culture than any Egyptian boat. Each Sampan was decorated with painted eyes on the front of the boat, because the Chinese believed that the ship needed to see ahead, and ships were specially designed not to disrupt the current which in turn would disrupt the river dragon who was believed to swallow all of China if woken. Earlier Egyptian boats were made purely of reeds because wood supply was scarce, while the Sampan was made of wood from the

Welcome, I am an Egyptologist from the British Museum, and I am here to talk to you about a fantastic civilization called Ancient Egypt. Ancient Egypt was an empire that began in approximately 3100BCE, and ended in 30BCE. In the time of Ancient Egypt, funerary customs were an important part of the Egyptian’s culture and beliefs and these customs evolved through time to become more elaborate, and common. The artefact I have chosen to explore with you is the book of the dead as it will provide you with a greater understanding of the complex funerary customs, and their beliefs in the afterlife.

Mummification is an ancient egyptian burial rite that is centered around preparing the soul of the deceased for the afterlife. There are multiple steps involved in the process of mummification and several objects with different functions used to perform this burial rite. Mummification is centered around the thought that death was merely physical and your soul continued living, with the ability to take distinct action, in the afterlife. Everyone desired to be mummified, however the extent of the mummification depended on the wealth of the family involved. Mummification was also generally not a rite reserved for criminals and lawbreakers since the idea behind mummification is for the deceased to have an easier afterlife.

The presence of these funerary, ritualistic boats in the most lavish and most ordinary of tombs suggests that the Egyptians held anything

In the article “Mysteries of Egypt” Canadian Museum of History it is explained that mystery surrounds the Egyptian origins. The first civilization was along the Nile River which nourished the Pharaonic Kingdom. The Nile River attracted all sorts of life, like during the pre-dynastic times nomadic hunters grew crops. The first communal project was the building of irrigation canal. The Egyptians believed that the sun represented the eternal cycle of birth, Pharaohs were seen as gods and after death would become immortal and would join the gods. Funerary practices included mummification and the burial in tombs to help the dead find their way. The most impressive tombs are the pyramids they were also vary ambitious projects. And the largest

Supporting evidence for second main idea:Early Egyptians learned to make small boats out of the papyrus plant. They were easy to build and were good for going fishing. Most papyrus boats were small and stirred with oars and poles. b. Supporting evidence for second main idea: All egyptians were makeup ,even men were it. They made dark eye makeup called kohl from soot and more minerals.

Humanity In terms of the article’s academic content, its strength is the inclusion of the ‘regular’ Egyptians approach to mortuary monuments, which show the human elements of religion. Such elements are not unique to Egyptian religion, but they can explain its contradictions, which are seen across polytheistic and monotheistic cultures. One such human element is the multiplicity and symbolism shown by contradictions in Egyptian religion. The authors themselves comment on this human similarity saying, “attitudes to death and the dead were as contradictory as in many societies”3.

Just from looking at a few pieces of the art of the ancient Egyptians, you begin to notice many defining characteristics about it that make it unique and different from other styles of art. There are an ample amount of recurring features in the art, so this must mean that these traits and aspects are noteworthy. This next section of the essay will go into detail about a few of the many types of art and the stylistic elements that define ancient Egyptian art and make it special and distinguishable from other types of art, and why some particular aspects of the art are important.

form of a bird usually a falcon and fly around in the world of the living