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RE: Totenkult im Alten Ägypten (Teil 1) // Mortuary cult in Ancient Egypt (Part 1)
A sensitive and respectful description of the death ritual. There is a poignancy to this blog . These were real people, who mourned their dead. The pictures are beautiful.
Still, as I look at these elaborate preparations, I think of slaves and lower class Egyptians, whose passing was surely not marked with such magnificent ceremony. Do we have records of those burials, I wonder? There must be. Something for me to look up tonight :)
Thanks for a brilliant post. Looking forward to the next installment.
Thank you very much for your feedback! :)
Sensitivity is especially important for this topic. Everyone who has passed away deserves respect. It makes no difference whether someone lost their life in the last week or 3000 years ago. I think it is the museum's task to inform the public about this important cultural-historical topic. But you have to act with a great deal of sensitivity. Scientific interest, public curiosity and the disturbance of peace in death have to be weighed against each other.
The embalming rite described was associated with high costs and therefore reserved only for the very wealthy and higher personalities. The dead of the poor, however, were probably wrapped in reed mats by their relatives and buried in the desert sand together with modest grave goods. I have to see if I can find any information in the museum about how slaves were buried. They were certainly denied an honourable burial.
It is a delicate balance. We need to know about the past, and we need to show and feel respect for the dead.
I am fascinated now by the fate-after-death of the slaves (that is, on earth).
That's a tantalizing clue. A bit of science, history and archeology all wrapped into one.
Thank you for your thoughtful answer.