The Nonroyal Afterlife in the
James P. Allen
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Breasted’s phrase, ‘the democratization of the hereafter,’ has become enshrined
in Egyptology as an apt expression of the notion that the afterlife of the
king, as expressed in the Pyramid texts, was only gradually extended to other
Egyptians after the end of the Old Kingdom. This paper will examine
archeological, artistic, and textual evidence for concepts of the afterlife
that were envisioned for the king’s subjects in the Old Kingdom.