Ideal and reality in Old Kingdom private funerary cults

Yayoi Shirai

The aim of this paper is to explore the issues of discrepancy between theory and practice in private funerary cults during the Old Kingdom, using textual, iconographical and archaeological evidence, and to provide a new perspective on private funerary cults.

The Old Kingdom witnessed the emergence of large-scaled funerary cult establishments. Textual evidence tells us how systematically the sustaining institutions for private funerary cults were organized parallel to royal funerary cults since the early stage of the Old Kingdom, in particular under Sneferu. Based on these stable foundations, private funerary cults seem to have developed consistently through the end of the Old Kingdom. This phenomenon may signify not only a further development in society and economy of Ancient Egypt, but also a growing concern about securing eternal existence in the afterlife.

Tomb inscriptions and decoration have been fundamental sources for our understanding of private funerary cults. However, we should recognize that most of them express an ideal rather than a real situation. Namely, it can be considered that a tomb owner put his/her will into the inscriptions and the decoration of the tomb, wishing for eternal funerary cult and life. Heir, other family members and funerary priests may be represented as they should be, not as they actually were.

We know, on the other hand, little about how long a private funerary cult was practiced after the tomb owner’s death. Did each funerary cult endure as the tomb wished? Or did some funerary cults cease immediately after the burial, even though the tomb owner had established his/her own cult in terms of human and economic resources through a legal contract? Archaeological data, which has gained precedence over the past decade in the study of funerary culture, provides new insights into these questions.

This paper will examine the discrepancy between theory and practice in private funerary cults by contrasting textual and iconographic data to archaeological data obtained from well-documented and excavated Old Kingdom tombs in Giza and other Memphite necropoleis.

A general introduction covering the characteristics of the Old Kingdom private funerary cults will be followed by detailed analysis of archaeological data with special attention to specific features documenting maintenance of private funerary cults. Enlargement or rebuilding of the offering place, continuous use of ritual objects and seal impressions on tomb walls will be scrutinized. The overall results from this analysis will be discussed, and compared to textual and iconographic data.