Burial Customs in Ancient Egypt: Life in Death for Rich and Poor

by Wolfram Grajetzki

The energy devoted by the ancient Egyptians to their tombs is legendary. The pyramids of Gizeh and the tomb of Tutankhamun are just two very spectacular examples, but no previous book has sought to use the tens of thousands of tombs excavated in Egypt, dating from 5000 BC to AD 200, across all classes of society, to build up a broad picture of burial as practised across the millennia. In this fascinating treatment, Wolfram Grajetzki sets out to remove some widespread misconceptions. Many imagine that few tombs survived undisturbed into modern times, but this is simply not true. In addition to the richest finds, there are numerous other tombs, devoid of gold and precious objects, which are key sources for reconstructing burial customs and Eygptian culture as a whole. This book sets the record straight, presenting evidence from each of the periods covered of poorer and average graves alongside the more famous wealthy tombs. The book is accessbily written and richly illustrated with over 150 illustrations, many specially prepared by the author.

165 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2003

Reviews

[DAJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

The burials of the poor tend to be neglected in Egyptology, and Grajetzki obviously wants to counteract that tendency. At one point he says outright that we don't know enough about poor Middle Kingdom burials because archaeologists tend to ignore them. The book is arranged chronologically, and each chapter has a section on the poor graves from the time period. Grajetzki also discusses atypical types of burial, and other subjects that other books tend to overlook, like burials in Nubia. He nevertheless devotes more space to wealthy tombs than to common graves, simply because there's less to say about a pit with a mummy and a few objects in it than about an elaborately decorated tomb.

The book is rather short, lacking the extensive detail found in more lavishly produced books for popular consumption, and apparently it includes some errors. Most notably, Grajetzki says the poorest people had no burial goods, but that is no longer considered to be true. Even so, it's an important complement to books that are more extensive overall but neglect the poor and the atypical.

[David Waldron · Rating 4 out of 5]

A readable, authoritative and succinct summary of burial customs over four thousand years of ancient Egyptian history (ending around 200 AD). This is probably not a book for those with only casual interest in ancient Egypt. The author does not write at length about general Egyptian history, focusing quite tightly of burial customs. He devotes very little attention to the spectacular royal tombs.

[Nancy Ross · Rating 4 out of 5]

Textbook for the Archeology of Ancient Egypt course I am auditing. Fascinating.