THE FIRST SLIDE – MAIN SLIDE – INTRODUCITON

THE SECOND SLIDE-WHAT IS A FUNERAL RITUAL / CONCEPT

Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect the
dead, from interment, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honor. Customs vary
between cultures and religious groups. Common secular motivations for funerals include mourning the deceased,
celebrating their life, and offering support and sympathy to the bereaved; additionally, funerals may have
religious aspects that are intended to help the soul of the deceased reach the afterlife, resurrection or
reincarnation.
The funeral usually includes a ritual through which the corpse receives a final disposition. Depending on culture
and religion, these can involve either the destruction of the body (for example, by cremation or sky burial) or its
preservation (for example, by mummification or interment). Differing beliefs about cleanliness and the
relationship between body and soul are reflected in funerary practices. A memorial service (or celebration of life)
is a funerary ceremony that is performed without the remains of the deceased person.
The word funeral comes from the Latin ‘’ funus’’, which had a variety of meanings, including the corpse and the
funerary rites themselves. Funerary art is art produced in connection with burials, including many kinds of tombs,
and objects specially made for burial like flowers with a corpse.
Funeral customs tend to be characterized by five "anchors": significant symbols, gathered community, ritual
action, cultural heritage, and transition of the dead body (corpse).
THE THIRD SLIDE- THE IMPORTANCE OF FUNERARY RITUAL IN THE ANCIENT EGYPT
The ancient Egyptians believed that it was important to be buried properly. A proper burial would allow them to
live again in the afterlife. Thus, most people who could afford to, spent a lot of time and effort making sure that
they would be buried well.
The ancient Egyptians were a polytheistic people who believed that gods and goddesses controlled the forces of the
human, natural, and supernatural world. In traditional Egyptian belief, the fundamental governing principle was
the abstract concept of maat (represented by the goddess Maat) which is often translated as truth, justice, and
cosmic order. To maintain maat, the living had to constantly worship and make sacrifices to the gods to pacify the
deities and spirits of the afterlife.
Ancient Egyptians believed that if a person were properly prepared for the afterlife, his/her soul was immortal.
The soul, known as ka, accompanies an individual throughout life, and then after death it leaves the body to enter
into the realm of the dead. An individual's ka could not exist without his or her body. Extensive rituals and
preparation of the body for death, which included tomb building, mummification, and funerary ceremonies, was
meant to protect the body and the soul for the afterlife.
The Egyptian pantheon was composed of many gods and goddesses often arranged in family groups of three
consisting of a mother, father, and child. Each god or goddess was linked to one or more places where monumental
temples were built to house their images. Gods and goddesses in Egypt took many different forms. Many were
portrayed in Egyptian art with both human and animal features. Horus, god of the sky, war, and protection often
appears with the body of a man and the head of a falcon. Others were portrayed as divine humans. For instance,
Osiris, who judges the dead in the afterlife, was portrayed as a man with a face that is either black (referring to
the rich Nile soil) or green (representing new life). Many Egyptian gods were also associated with attributes, or
objects with which they perform their divine duties. Isis, goddess of magic and motherhood, for instance, was often
shown holding an ankh or a lotus.
In Egyptian society, the highest position was occupied by the pharaoh who was believed to be semi-divine and who
was credited with mediating between humans and the gods.

THE FOURTH SLIDE- BASIC PROBLEM / SOCIAL ASPECT

Even the poorest Egyptian was given some kind of ceremony as it was thought that, if the deceased were not
properly buried, the soul would return in the form of a ghost to haunt the living. Ghosts were considered a very
real and serious threat, and grieving families were often hard-pressed to afford the kind of funerary rites which
the morticians advertised as the best in keeping the soul of the deceased happy and the surviving family members
ghost-free.
As mummification could be very expensive, the poor gave their used clothing to the embalmers to be used in
wrapping the corpse. This gave rise to the phrase “The Linen of Yesterday” alluding to death. “The poor could not
afford new linens, and so wrapped their beloved corpses in those of 'yesterday'”.
The poor were buried in simple graves with those artifacts they had enjoyed in life or whatever objects the family
could afford to part with.
Provisioning the tomb, of course, relied upon one’s personal wealth, but among the artifacts everyone wanted
included were shabti dolls. In life, the Egyptians were called upon to donate a certain amount of their time every
year to public building projects like the pyramids, parks, or temples. If one were ill, or could not afford the time,
one could send a replacement worker. One could only do this once in a year or else face punishment for the
avoidance of civic duty. The more shabti dolls found in a tomb, the greater the wealth of the one buried there.
THE FIFTH SLIDE – DIFFERENT RITUALS / ROYAL VIOLENCE IN ANCIENT EGYPT
Perhaps the oldest form of ritualistic burial discovered in Egypt, pot burials simply consisted of an individual
buried within a burial pot. The earliest examples date from the Predynastic Period, before the reigns of the
Pharaohs.
There is some debate concerning pot burials after the Old Kingdom, with some scholars arguing that they were
only used for infants and the poorest from then on.
Others maintain that pot burials were a common mode of burial regardless of wealth
right through to the Coptic period. It is even reported that some Egyptian rural
communities use pot burials in the present day.
The symbolism of the pot burial is also disputed, partially due to a lack of evidence
from so long ago. Common theories posit the pot as a metaphorical womb,
symbolising rebirth. Another theory suggests that the pot represented the womb of
the sky goddess, through whose body the soul of the deceased would have to travel
to reach the afterlife.
Yet another scholar argues that there is no symbolism, and that such theories are
over-thinking it. Ultimately there is not enough evidence to truly know, though the
idea of a symbolic womb does seem plausible.
The walls of tombs weren’t solely decorated with pictures, but with inscriptions as
well. These inscriptions often contained incantations to aid the deceased through his
journey to the afterlife, which was full of perils.
Inscribed on the sarcophagi and inner walls of pyramids, these texts were without
images, and in the Old Kingdom, reserved solely for Pharaoh (and for some queens).
Primarily concerned with the transformation into an akh, one of the forms of the soul,
they consisted of spells to aid the deceased.
Later the texts were also used by nobles, and other forms such as the Coffin texts and
Book of the Dead became popular. These latter versions are notable as they were also
available to commoners and supposedly removed access to the afterlife as a solely
royal privilege.
This so-called “democratisation of the afterlife” model is sometimes disputed. As
common in ancient history, we do not have enough evidence to definitively prove that
in the Old Kingdom, the afterlife was a purely royal privilege. It is likely that non-
elites believed in some form of afterlife that they could access.
The rituals often required specialised equipment, some of which would be buried with
the deceased. They generally concerned the proper transformation of the soul, so
that it may journey to the afterlife.
One particular example is the “Opening of the Mouth” ceremony. As the name
suggests, this involved symbolically opening the mouth of the deceased to allow him
to defend him/herself before the judgement of the gods.
The Egyptians constructed a sophisticated and involved approach to death. Whilst the
time and resources dedicated to the afterlife may be difficult for us to understand, it
may be endemic of a society in which death was commonplace and medicine was
ineffective.It is perhaps fitting that the material remnants of this culture that have
immortalised them in our imagination, were designed to grant them a life after death.
ROYAL VIOLENCE IN ANCIENT EGYPT ----
Kerry Muhlestein of Brigham Young University wrote: “Violence was a real part of cultic practice and many
rituals employed violent actions. Most of this violence, however, was enacted against animals or inanimate objects.
In these rituals, the animals or objects were often seen as substitutes for humans. Sometimes the objects were
anthropomorphic in form, as with the many clay, stone, and wax figures used in execration rituals. During the
ceremonies, these figures were smashed, decapitated, mutilated, stabbed, speared, burned, and buried. Violence
against mortals and against preternatural enemies was often combined in the rites. At least two execration rituals,
one at Mirgissa during the Middle Kingdom and one at Avaris during the early 18th Dynasty, almost certainly
used humans as the objects of the ritual.

THE SIXTH SLIDE- MUMMIFICATION

The most famous funerary custom is of course mummification. The aim of mummification was to preserve the
body, in order to house the ‘’ba’’ and ‘’ka’’, two aspects of the Egyptian soul. The earliest attempts at
mummification that we know of are from the Naqada II period, when the formation of states began to occur.
These mummies are unlike the traditional idea we have of them, which mainly come from the New Kingdom some
one and a half millennia later. During this long time, the process of mummification evolved.
The New Kingdom form of mummification involved removing the internal organs and preserving them in canopic
jars. The brain was liquefied using a rod, and then removed via the nose. The body was dried using natron (a type
of salt) for 40 days, and bandaged for 30.
During the bandaging oils and resins were applied, and amulets were placed in various places. The word
“mummy” comes from the Arabic word for bitumen, which European explorers’ thought was used to preserve the
body.
There were variations on this procedure, and different styles of mummification. These
were often chosen for economic reasons, or simply to due to popular trends. Instead
of choosing an Apple or Android phone, the Egyptians chose different ways to
mummify their dead. The poor couldn’t afford the full process, but often made some
attempt at preserving the body. There were no restrictions on who could and could
not be mummified. However, due to the drastically expensive procedure, only a
limited few who could afford the process.
Despite removing every other organ, ancient Egyptians would never remove the
deceased’s heart as they believed it to be “center of a person’s being and
intelligence.”
Archaeologists uncovered more than a few critters entombed beside human remain —
millions of them, in fact. The History Channel claims that “researchers believe [they]
produced more than 70 million animal mummies between 800 BC and 400 AD.”
This included cats, birds, cows, frogs, baboons, and countless other creatures who
were either personal pets of the deceased or intended as offering or protection for
them in the afterlife.
More than a million mummies have been found in Egypt. Most of these mummies are
of cats.
Xin Zhui was the most well-preserved mummy ever found. She had died over 2,000
years ago and still had her flexible limbs, her organs, her hair and soft skin.

THE SEVENTH SLIDE- TOMBS AND COFFINS

The main purpose of these containers was the protection of the corpse from scavenging animals and tomb robbers.
They also served an important religious role through their shape and decoration, which changed and developed
over the whole of ancient Egyptian history. Mummy cases were New Kingdom boxes that fit between the mummy
and the coffin. They were made in two styles: a box and lid like a coffin, or a box with doors in the back that laced
closed. Mummy cases were made of cartonnage, a lightweight material made from waste papyrus and linen
covered in plaster. The cartonnage material allowed the case to be molded closely to the outline of the mummy; it
was also a wonderful material to paint on. Mummy cases were elaborately decorated with a variety of religious
elements. Early tombs were considered the eternal dwelling places of the deceased, and the earliest coffins
resembled miniature homes in appearance. They were made of small pieces of local wood doweled together.
By the Old Kingdom, coffins were rectangular boxes with flat lids. They were painted and inscribed in hieroglyphs
with four important features: the deceased's name and titles; a list of food offerings; a false door through which
the ka could pass; and eyes through which the deceased could see outside the coffin. The body was placed in the
coffin on its left side, so its face would be directly lined up with the painted eyes on the coffin's side.
By the Middle Kingdom the coffin was considered a miniature tomb, and it was decorated with many of the items
that had formerly adorned the walls of the tomb. The goddesses Isis and Nephthys were painted as guards at the
head and foot of the coffin. Around 1650 BCE rishi coffins were popular in the city of Thebes. These coffins were
distinctive because the bodies portrayed on the front were covered with feathers from shoulders to feet. Depending
on the period and the wealth of the individual, it was fashionable to be buried in either one, two, or three different
coffins. Multiple coffins would be nested one inside the other.

THE EIGHT SLIDE- EGYPTIAN FUNERARY SCULPTURES.

Among the major arts associated with the funerary cults of ancient Egypt—sculpture, relief and painting—none
gives us a deeper understanding of the inner personality of the Nile dwellers in antiquity than sculpture in the
round. Like man himself, it is three dimensional and thus encompasses the human measure—the essence of his
humanity, tangibly, in a durable material, on a human scale.
In the course of its long history Egypt produced a large number of funerary statues, both naturalistic and
idealizing, reflecting the hope for an enjoyable existence in the afterlife, with a youthful body of harmonious pro-
portions and natural beauty, the features unlined but pleasant and full of vigor. As these qualities are amply
represented in the many mortuary figures of the Nile Valley, they may be considered typical.
In the course of its long history Egypt produced a large number of funerary statues,
both naturalistic and idealizing , reflecting the hope for an enjoyable existence in the
afterlife. These non-idealizing features of Egyptian art are of interest because, far
more than bland idealization, they mirror the attitude of the ancient Egyptian toward
life, death and the human experience. When one studies Egyptian statuary from this
point of view, a surprisingly large number of sculptures come to light which show the
direct opposite of the standard likeness of the youthful-looking man, represented as
well fed, bright-eyed and sometimes even smiling in anticipation of the paradise
hereafter.

THE NINTH SLIDE- PYRAMIDS

Built during a time when Egypt was one of the richest and most powerful civilizations
in the world, the pyramids——are some of the most magnificent man-made structures
in history. Their massive scale reflects the unique role that the pharaoh, or king,
played in ancient Egyptian society. Though pyramids were built from the beginning of
the Old Kingdom to the close of the Ptolemaic period in the fourth century A.D., the
peak of pyramid building began with the late third dynasty and continued until
roughly the sixth (c. 2325 B.C.). More than 4,000 years later, the Egyptian pyramids
still retain much of their majesty, providing a glimpse into the country’s rich and
glorious past. The pyramid's smooth, angled sides symbolized the rays of the sun and
were designed to help the king's soul ascend to heaven and join the gods, particularly
the sun god Ra. The pyramids became the focus of a cult of the dead king that was
supposed to continue well after his death. Their riches would provide not only for
him, but also for the relatives, officials and priests who were buried near him. From
the beginning of the Dynastic Era (2950 B.C.), royal tombs were carved into rock and
covered with flat-roofed rectangular structures known as “mastabas,” which were
precursors to the pyramids. The oldest known pyramid in Egypt was built around
2630 B.C. at Saqqara, for the third dynasty’s King Djoser. No pyramids are more
celebrated than the Great Pyramids of Giza, located on a plateau on the west bank of
the Nile River, on the outskirts of modern-day Cairo.
The oldest and largest of the three pyramids at Giza, known as the Great Pyramid, is
the only surviving structure out of the famed Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It
was built for Pharaoh Khufu (Cheops). A unique feature built inside Khafre’s pyramid
complex was the Great Sphinx, a guardian statue carved in limestone with the head
of a man and the body of a lion. It was the largest statue in the ancient world.
Pyramids continued to be built throughout the fifth and sixth dynasties, but the
general quality and scale of their construction declined over this period, along with
the power and wealth of the kings themselves.