The ancient Egyptian desire to craft an ideal afterlife led to a later (incorrect) perception that they were obsessed with death. Far from it! Instead, in equipping their tombs as thoroughly as possible, each Egyptian was focused on preparing for their ongoing existence in the next life. From early in its history, Egyptian tombs generally had two primary elements:

1. an accessible, above-ground chapel or shrine where visitors could come perform rituals and leave offerings and
2. a hidden, sealed, subterranean chamber containing the mummy, daily life items, food, and other grave goods, as well as texts and spells designed to aid the deceased on their  journey through the netherworld.

There was significant innovation and change over time in the contents of these burial assemblages, but the need to preserve the body and provide for daily needs in the afterlife remained essential.

Private tombs

Predynastic (c. 5000–3000 B.C.E.) and Early Dynastic periods (c. 3000–2686 B.C.E.)

The earliest burials (up through the late Predynastic Period) consisted of a simple shallow pit with the body, surrounded by pots, tools, and other daily life items, being placed directly in contact with the dry sand and covered over. This practice often resulted in natural mummies, where the arid environment has desiccated and preserved the bodies, sometimes in surprisingly excellent condition.

Tomb 100, mural painting showing people engaging in a variety of activities along the Nile River (watercolor copy), c. 3200 B.C.E., predynastic period, Hierakonpolis, Egypt (in F. W. Green and James E. Quibell, Hierakonpolis (Band 2) (London, 1902)

The first properly constructed tombs, commonly brick-lined pits with plastered walls, appeared in Egypt shortly before the time of political unification (around 3100 B.C.E.). This basic type developed into a more complex subterranean structure by the First and Second Dynasty royal burials at Abydos, likely intended to evoke a palace for the afterlife.

While kings were buried in the south during this early period, many nobles were instead buried at Saqqara in the north near the newly established national capital of Memphis. Their large tombs included an impressive rectangular superstructure with niched walls atop a burial chamber dug into the bedrock and roofed with wood. The superstructures included multiple chambers that would have been filled with funerary goods.

Mastaba tombs around Great Pyramid, Dynasty 4, Giza, Egypt (photo: Dr. Amy Calvert)

Old Kingdom c. 2686–2150 B.C.E.

Once the royal burials moved north to Saqqara starting in Dynasty Three, elites tended to be buried in large cemeteries that surrounded the tombs of their kings. In the Old Kingdom, these private tombs took the form of a bench-shaped mastaba (a flat, rectangular tomb form) that sat atop the burial chamber. Interment was achieved via a shaft from the top of the mastaba that was then filled in, making it inaccessible. Access was instead provided via a cut into the side of the mastaba that led to a stone-lined chapel that housed statues of the deceased sealed within the walls and included a stela known as a false door, which was believed to act as a portal, for the spirit to use, between the realms of the living and the dead. Walls were usually covered with lively, idealized scenes of daily life, representations of the deceased’s achievements, and vignettes of the venerated dead seated before overflowing tables of food. These chapels were for mortuary cult practices, encouraging the performance of rituals and the leaving of offerings intended to benefit the deceased.

First Intermediate Period (c. 2150–2030 B.C.E.) and Middle Kingdom (c.  2030–1640 B.C.E.)

During the First Intermediate Period and Middle Kingdom, the rock-cut chapels of some elite tombs depict scenes of the deceased presiding over religious festivals and venerating cult objects—types of activity that would not have been permitted in private tombs of the Old Kingdom.

Model scene of workers ploughing a field, Middle Kingdom, 2010–1961 B.C.E., wood, 54 cm (MFA Boston)

‘Daily life’ scenes continue to appear as well, both on the walls and in the form of wooden models.

Painted wooden inner-coffin of Seni with lid, c. 1850 B.C.E. (12th dynasty), painted wood, findspot: Deir el-Bersha, Egypt (© The Trustees of the British Museum)

Coffins from elite burials were often extensively painted with texts and scenes intended to aid the deceased in the afterlife. This collection of funerary literature is now referred to as the Coffin Texts.

New Kingdom (c. 1550–1070 B.C.E.) and Third Intermediate Period (c. 1070–713 B.C.E.)

Nebamun fowling in the marshes, Tomb-chapel of Nebamun, c. 1350 B.C.E., 18th Dynasty, paint on plaster, 83 x 98 cm, Thebes © Trustees of the British Museum

Elite tombs in the New Kingdom continued to include elaborately decorated rock-cut chapels for the family to visit and offer ongoing sustenance for the dead; there were even special cyclical festivals focused on these visits. Chapels were often beautifully decorated with painted scenes related to important events from the life of the deceased and ritual scenes designed to provide for them in the afterlife. Some preserved scenes included lively and vibrant representations of their life on earth.

Private tombs, Dynasty 26, Asasif, Thebes (photo: Dr. Amy Calvert)

Thebes remained the primary cemetery for New Kingdom elites until the Twentieth Dynasty when the capital moved to the north-east part of the Delta. Tombs constructed in the north were quite different, being placed within or near temple precincts and incorporating brick-vaulted chambers. Further changes in burial practices are apparent in the Third Intermediate Period, particularly a more intense focus on the mummy and its coffin and increase of family or group crypts.

Late Period (c. 713–332 B.C.E.)

After the reunification of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty and through the Twenty-sixth, monumental private tombs reappeared briefly again both at Thebes and in the north. Some of the most massive rock-cut tombs ever discovered in Egypt are private tombs constructed at Thebes during the Twenty-sixth Dynasty. At Saqqara, burials were placed at the bottom of immense shafts dug into the bedrock that would have been completely filled with sand and rubble to seal the sepulcher; a number of these survived intact into the modern era.

Ptolemaic Period (c. 332–30 B.C.E.) and Roman Period (c. 30 B.C.E.–395 C.E.)

During the Ptolemaic Period, group burials continued and (not surprisingly) there was a marked increase in Hellenistic elements in the iconography given the Macedonian origins of the ruling family in this era. Simultaneously, understanding of the traditional Egyptian funerary imagery begins to erode and a fascinating blend of representational styles develops. Particularly in Alexandria, the blurring of the divide between indigenous Egyptian traditions and Hellenistic cultural approaches creates something of a hybrid between the two.

We see more rounded bodies in relief depictions and Greek-style dress and hairstyle on the mummy portraits of this period. Even old Egyptian deities like Anubis appear with a Hellenistic-style body and Roman armor in the 2nd century Alexandrian catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa.

Mummy of Herakleides, 120–140 C.E., Romano-Egyptian, human and bird remains, linen, pigment, beeswax, and wood (The Getty Villa)

This is even more apparent in the Roman era, with astonishingly individual portrait panels being placed over the face of the mummy. These startling, often elaborately-wrapped mummies appear to have then been kept on view in the family home or a public repository to receive offerings. After a period of time (presumably to make more room for the more recent dead), they were gathered, stacked atop each other, and interred in mass burial pits.

Figurines in a ransacked tomb chamber next to the coffin (right), Tomb of Djehutynakht (Barsha), Dynasty 12, from Museum of Fine Arts, Boston expedition in 1915.

Provisioning the Dead

From the earliest times, even simple burials included not only the body of the deceased but also items intended for use in the afterlife. Royal and non-royal burials were full of objects of all types—furniture, tools, personal care implements (like razors and stone palettes used to grind mineral makeup), foodstuffs, and clothing.

King Den’s sandal label, 1st dynasty, ivory, found at Abydos, Upper Egypt, 4.5 x 5.3 cm (© Trustees of the British Museum)

For example, an ivory label from the tomb of king Den has a ritual scene on one side and a simple depiction of sandals on the other, indicating the grave good they were originally attached to.

 

The ideal vision of the existence beyond that was the goal of all deceased Egyptians—a perfected, effortless version of the life they experienced when among the living. Scores of ‘support staff’ were often evident in the form of scenes of daily life that covered the walls or wooden models that provided produce and sustenance for the deceased. Many models and scenes show the preparation of various foodstuffs and other goods desired in the afterlife, or were shown bringing offerings. A particularly beautiful example of one of these offering models is a statue of an offering bearer from the Tomb of Meketre.

 

Beginning in the First Intermediate Period, the deceased was also accompanied by small figures that were intended to perform work on their behalf in the afterlife. Referred to as ushabtis, eventually there could be hundreds of these ‘afterlife workers’ provided to perform a wide range of tasks, along with images of overseers to manage them.

Cite this page as: Dr. Amy Calvert, “Private tombs, portals to the afterlife,” in Smarthistory, August 1, 2022, accessed September 8, 2023, https://smarthistory.org/private-tombs-and-items-afterlife/.

Egyptian Social Organization—from the Pharaoh to the farmer

by DR. AMY CALVERT

Seti I kneels before the god Amun and receives emblems of kingship conveying his authority to rule. In his left hand the king grasps a rekhyt bird, which represents the general population that is being brought under the king’s control. This elegant scene is packed with symbols of stability, life, and eternal rejuvenation, all directed at the king. Temple of Seti I at Abydos, Dynasty 19.

A hierarchy

Ancient Egyptian society was a strictly divided hierarchy. The king, chosen by the gods to rule, was at the top with layers underneath—including officials like the vizier, scribes, overseers, and regional governors (called “nomarchs”), priests, the military, and the general population of artists, tradespeople, craftspeople, agricultural workers, laborers, and enslaved people.

This hierarchical society flourished for much of ancient Egypt’s very long history largely because of the central cultural principle of ma’at—the cosmic force of order and balance that Egyptians believed governed their world. The economy was centrally organized, with a fixed wage and state distribution system. Through this process, the properly functioning state (proof of the king being in accord with ma’at) provided for the populace. The king officially owned all the land and the state received goods and services through taxation. Taxes were levied, collected, and recorded by the offices of the vizier and placed in centralized storehouses. These goods were then redistributed back to the people.

Pharaoh—Top of the Food Chain

Many aspects of royal ideology and iconography were visible from the earliest monuments and continued to be used for thousands of years. The Narmer Palette for example, includes the iconic smiting pose, elements of regalia like crowns, weapons, and the ceremonial beard, and a blending of divine and terrestrial elements in the same scene in support of the king’s efforts.

The ruler’s role as the champion of ma’at was paramount, as was the expectation that a ruler would protect Egypt from its enemies and administer the vast resources of the Two Lands to the benefit of the people. As time passed, the ruler had additional expectations, including being a good shepherd and protector and, in the militaristic period of the New Kingdom, to display great skill in battle and physical prowess.

Statue of King Khafre (Chephren), detail, 4th Dynasty, Old Kingdom, diorite, Giza, Egypt (photo: kairoinfo4u, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Kings in ancient Egypt were living humans, but they also embodied the eternal office of kingship itself. The ka, or spirit, of kingship was often depicted as a separate entity standing behind the human ruler, and it was this divine aspect of the office that gave authority to the individual person who was the king. The living ruler was viewed as the embodiment of the god Horus, the powerful, falcon-headed god who was believed to have bestowed the throne to the first human king, Menes. Once they died, the ruler became connected with Osiris, the eternal Lord of the Underworld, and their successor rose as the new Horus.

The ka of Senusret I stands behind the king and wears Senusret’s Horus-name in its serekh on his head, with the ka hieroglyph (a pair of upright arms) wrapped around the base. The ka holds an oversized ma’at feather and the standard of divine kingship (White Chapel, Karnak Temple)

Over time, the royal title developed so that each individual king had five names that emphasized different aspects of kingship and highlighted the king’s relationships with the gods.

Horus name of Ramses VI in his tomb in the Valley of the Kings, Tomb of Ramses V/VI	Horus-name The earliest of the five names to appear was the Horus-name (also known as the ka-name). This name identified the king as the earthly embodiment of Horus, the patron god of kingship, and was enclosed in a serekh (a paneled rectangular form that likely represents a stylized palace gateway) topped with the Horus falcon.
Detail from the White Chapel of Senusret I, Karnak, Dynasty 12	The Two Ladies-name (nebty) This name demonstrated that the Two Lands were unified under the king’s rule. This name was topped by the goddesses Nekhbet and Wadjet, usually represented in the title as a vulture and a cobra wearing the crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt, the White and Red crown, respectively.
Detail from the White Chapel of Senusret I, Karnak, Dynasty 12	Golden Horus-name The title of the Golden Horus-name was written as a falcon seated atop the hieroglyph for gold; the meaning of this name is unclear but likely indicates a wish for the king to be an “eternal Horus.”
Detail from the White Chapel of Senusret I, Karnak, Dynasty 12	nesu-bjt-name Often referred to as the prenomen, the nesu-bjt-name is titled by hieroglyphs of a sedge and bee. Often translated as “King of Upper and Lower Egypt,” it seems instead to be closer in meaning to a merging of the eternal aspect of divine kingship (nesu) with the ephemeral human ruler holding power at that moment in time (bit).
Detail on a loose block in the Open Air Museum at Karnak, Dynasty 12	The birth name or nomen This was the only one of the five that was given to a king at their birth; the rest being given when they took the crown. The nomen is the Son of Ra-name, titled by a goose and sun disc —the hieroglyphs that spell out “son of Ra.”

Both the nomen and prenomen were enclosed in the elongated cartouche (an oval shape). This device, which may signify the infinite expanse of the king’s realm, clearly distinguished royal names from surrounding text.

Detail of an elaborately patterned niched facade, known as a serekh, from the White Chapel of Senusret I, Karnak, Dynasty 12

Old Kingdom: First Dynasty through the First Intermediate Period

From the First Dynasty onwards, kings were known by the Horus-name. They served as political, religious, and military leaders. The ruler was expected to be the powerful champion of ma’at and capable of wielding that divine strength to protect Egypt from her foes.

Detail of Statue of Khasekhemwy, Old Kingdom, Second Dynasty (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford University)

Statue of King Khasekhem with images showing crushed enemies on the top of base along with the number of dead recorded along the front  by danderson4 on sketchfab

The earliest sculptures of a specific ruler anywhere in the world may be two images of the Second Dynasty king Khasekhemwy wearing the White Crown and crushing chaotic enemies under his feet (one is pictured above) as an agent of ma’at. By the Fourth Dynasty, the king was viewed as the “Son of Ra,” acting as a deputy of the sun god on earth.

Kings of the Old Kingdom were viewed almost as divine; statuary of this time shows them with perfected bodies and serene faces (like Menkaura and his queen) that seemed focused on the world beyond. Toward the end of the Sixth Dynasty, several factors (including low Nile inundations that may suggest famine and apparent disorganization), led to the loss of centralized control and the end of the Old Kingdom. Simultaneously, the prominence of local governors (nomarchs) began to increase in their individual regions and rise in importance. They became increasingly independent from the king and central administration, leading to a politically fractured period we call the First Intermediate Period.

Middle Kingdom through Second Intermediate Period

After the disunity of the First Intermediate Period, we see the democratization of previously royal prerogatives (such as the assumption of royal titles, regalia, and mortuary practices by local nomarchs), and the role of the pharaoh shifted. Kings of the Middle Kingdom focused more attention on being responsible protectors of Egypt, rather than on their divinity. Statues of the pharaohs from this time convey the heaviness of the crown and the role of kingship, the weight of their responsibilities evident on the face. The ears of these figures are also distinctly oversized—the better, it is believed, to hear the pleas of their people.

Face of Senwosret III (Middle Kingdom), c. 1878–1840 B.C.E., red quartzite, 16.5 × 12.6 × 11.4 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art)

During the Second Intermediate Period, peoples from western Asia took control of the Nile delta region. During this disjointed period, there was an Egyptian pharaoh ruling the south from Thebes and a Hyksos king ruling the north from a city called Avaris. Military conflicts between the two groups extended for generations and were fierce; one of the royal Egyptian mummies from this period shows severe injuries that indicate a violent death on the battlefield. Eventually, the pharaoh Ahmose was able to drive the occupiers out of the delta, re-unify the country under his rule, and establish the New Kingdom.

New Kingdom

After successfully regaining their country, New Kingdom rulers placed extra emphasis on military capabilities and were expected to be skilled in battle as the supreme commander of the armies. Perhaps in response to being invaded and occupied, the kings of the Eighteenth Dynasty led numerous military campaigns and expanded the borders of Egypt north all the way to the Euphrates river, and south deep into Nubia. Even after the borders were stabilized, this role of the king as Egypt’s protector was paramount, as evidenced by the huge numbers of triumphant battle scenes that appear on temple walls.

Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, Dayr al-Baḥrī, Egypt, c. 1470 B.C.E. (photo: Nuță Lucian, CC BY 2.0)

Female rulers

Female rulers, although rare, controlled the country at several points in Egypt’s history. One of the most famous of these was the powerful Hatshepsut, who reigned for around 20 years during the New Kingdom. A prolific builder, Hatshepsut’s magnificent terraced mortuary temple cut into the cliffs in west Thebes remains one of the most stunning structures from the ancient world.

Large Kneeling Statue of Hatshepsut, c. 1479–1458 B.C.E., Dynasty 18, New Kingdom (Deir el-Bahri, Upper Egypt), granite, 261.5 x 80 x 137 cm (The Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Many of Hatshepsut’s images show her as a masculine ruler, with her feminine characteristics deemphasized and wearing all the same royal regalia as male kings. Texts on these images, however, clearly identify her properly as female. As always before the gods, it was her capabilities as a good king that was of the greatest import; her gender was not an issue.

Granite shabti of the Kushite King Taharqa, 25th Dynasty, 664 B.C.E., from the pyramid of Taharqa at Nuri, Nubia, 40.6 cm high (© The Trustees of the British Museum)

Rulers from abroad

Even rulers of non-Egyptian origin, including the much later Roman emperors who appear in temple relief carvings, presented themselves with the traditional iconography and regalia that clearly identified them as an Egyptian pharaoh. This practice linked them with the long line of kings that came before them and helped legitimize their rule to the illiterate populace. Rulers from Kerma, whose own culture displayed a fascinating blend of Nubian and Egyptian imagery, emphasized Egyptian deities in their monuments. These Kushite kings ruled Egypt for around 75 years. They were especially devoted to the god Amun, who had a well-established and important cult in their homeland.

King List, from the Temple of Seti I, Abydos, Egypt (photo: Olaf Tausch, CC BY 3.0)

King Lists

Kings recorded the names of their predecessors in vast “king-lists” on the walls of their temples and depicted themselves making offerings to the rulers who came before them—one of the best known examples is in the temple of Seti I at Abydos. These lists were often condensed, with some rulers (such as the contentious and disruptive Akhenaten and his successor, Tutankhamun) and even entire dynasties omitted from the record; they are not truly history, rather they are a form of ancestor worship, a celebration of the consistency of kingship of which the current ruler was a part.

Ancient Egyptian society has been portrayed as a pyramid, with the king at the very top and the population layered beneath them. Egypt was a theocratic monarchy, where the king ruled by the command of the gods and served as intermediary between the people and the divine. He was maintainer of ma’at, chief officiant in all ritual actions before the gods, military commander and protector of Egypt, living Horus, and provider for the people. If he fulfilled all his required roles to the satisfaction of the gods, then the land flourished and the people prospered. In general, the society was divided into those who administered (the officials) and those who were administered (the masses of the population). Given that there was no “church and state” separation, the temples were also part of the administration, lending divine oversight to state activities. All large-scale ventures, whether quarrying expeditions, building projects, or the maintenance of workshops of artisans, were controlled by the state.

Social Organization

Ancient Egyptian society was a theocratic monarchy with a strict hierarchical structure. The most important individual in the society, the king (pharaoh), was discussed in a separate essay. Below the king were administrative officials, such as the vizier, overseers, scores of scribes, and regional governors (called “nomarchs”) who handled local resource management. There were also priests dedicated to the divine and royal cults, ranks of the military, and the general population of artists, tradespeople, craftspeople, agricultural workers, laborers, and slaves.

The Egyptians believed their world was governed by ma’at, a divine force of cosmic balance, which is what provided stability. The centrally-organized storehouse economy and state-run distribution system supplied the people with a fixed wage based on their labor type and skill level. In general, there was little social mobility or free choice of career; instead, sons followed their fathers in their professions.

Administration—viziers, officials, and overseers

Egyptian bureaucracy was hierarchical, with the pharaoh at the top and layers of administrators beneath them that governed on the king’s behalf. This group of elites were among the very small portion of the population that was literate. The top official below the king was known in Egyptian as tjaty; this individual is now referred to as the vizier (Arabic for “high official”) and was much like a modern prime minister. During the Old and Middle Kingdoms there was one vizier for the whole country, but during the New Kingdom this position was split into a vizier of Upper Egypt and another for Lower Egypt (from the beginning of its history, Egypt was viewed as being two lands: Upper Egypt in the south, and Lower Egypt in the north), while a third, the Viceroy of Kush, oversaw the valuable lands of Nubia south of the First Cataract.

These high-ranking figures functioned as the king’s representatives and directed the administration of the country. Below them were the local officials and provincial governors who performed a range of responsibilities—most importantly the collection of taxes, oversight of local granaries and storehouses, and drafting of labor for state projects. They were accountable to the vizier for any failures. Civil justice was meted out by councils of local officials and high-ranking priests. The vizier served as the chair of the “Great Council,” which oversaw cases that affected the state, such as property disputes that could impact taxation and serious crimes like murder. Local councils oversaw social claims such as theft, adultery, and wife-beating—both men and women had the right to seek redress in court.

Scribes and priests—holders of secret knowledge

The scribal class was part of the administration and they were high-ranking professionals. These individuals could understand and write hieroglyphs, which the ancient Egyptians called medu netjer or “words of the gods.”  The word for scribe was written hieroglyphically as a scribal palette with ink recesses and an attached stylus.

Scribes served an essential function in society and were often portrayed as serene, confident, and self-assured in their elevated position. They were trained in special schools associated with the court and certain temples, with students focused on copying existing texts. Training seems to have been based on memorizing entire sections of text rather than individual signs. The Egyptian language developed over time and was not only written in the fully pictorial hieroglyphic script, but also in other forms of the language. Although the hieroglyphic script is entirely made up of images, it was not pictographic writing. Instead, these signs stood for sounds or groups of sounds that were clustered together to form words. Scrolls of papyrus were the usual surface for formal texts, although many informal texts were jotted down on sherds of pottery or flakes of stone known as ostraca. Ink was applied using a reed stylus; black for the primary writing and red for headings and corrections.

Scribal training was required to become an official, a physician, or a priest. As most diseases were thought to have come as a punishment from the gods or divine lesson, there was little distinction between priests and physicians and in some sects, like that of the goddess Serket, all the priests were also doctors. Priests needed to be able to read and write in order to perform their duties; many of the rituals had long incantations that had to be read. It is interesting to note that no separate priestly class existed until the New Kingdom. Prior to this time, priestly duties were performed by civil officials who served for a period of months and then returned to their regular, secular tasks.

New Kingdom priests were trained as scribes and then submitted to a series of ritual purifications and annointings along with vows of purity and obedience. There were strict requirements for purity, including shaved heads and regular washings, as well as proscriptions from certain foods and activities while in the service of the gods.

Several different types of priests are known from early times. For instance, there were lector priests, who wore a diagonal sash across their chest and recited the formulas that accompanied cult rituals, while sem priests wore leopard skins and were associated with funerary rites and the essential Opening of the Mouth ritual.

At the numerous divine and royal temples throughout the country, the administrations included overseers and inspectors of the priests who were responsible for the organization and management of the daily operations of each temple. At the top of the hierarchy was the high priest who was referred to as the hem-netjer-tepy or “first servant of god.” This position was frequently appointed by the king but over time it became more hereditary. Priestesses are known from the Old Kingdom onwards, with many elite females holding the title of hemet-netjer, “(female) servant of god.” Usually, women served female deities although some seem to have served as priestesses of Thoth and Ptah.

We know little about the military until the New Kingdom and there was apparently no standing army until at least the Middle Kingdom. Prior to this, if troops were needed they were conscripted, armed—with hide-covered shields, clubs, battle-axes, daggers, simple bows and arrows, slings, and lances—and placed under the command of a local official who was their superior in civil life. After the Old Kingdom, mercenaries and professional soldiers appeared and a permanent fighting force developed. In addition to forts in the eastern desert and along trade routes, Middle Kingdom rulers established a series of riverine forts in Nubia that were well-manned and used to establish control of the valuable resources in the region, especially gold.

Models from the Middle Kingdom tomb of Mesehti show 2 units of armed soldiers (40 Egyptian foot soldiers and 40 Nubian archers) preserving their costumes and weapons. During the New Kingdom, the military machine massively expanded. Major military campaigns were carried out throughout this period and supported a mass of professional troops. The New Kingdom was founded on generations of battle, with the need to drive the Hyksos out of the Nile delta. The Egyptian military embraced the weapons that had been introduced by the Hyksos, including the scimitar, horse-drawn chariot, and composite bow, and made them their own. New Kingdom kings greatly expanded the borders of their influence. A rare gateway to social mobility, prowess in battle and military capabilities could elevate the status of even the lowest-born soldier to that of a distinguished veteran.

Artisans and Craftspeople—Creators of Beauty and Function

Below the scribal layer were semi- or non-literate skilled artisans and craftspeople who produced the goods required by the elite. Although for most of Egypt’s history, we know little about individual craftspeople, surviving examples show that some were honored with statues and private tombs—one early, 3rd Dynasty example being a ship-builder and smith named Akhwa who was identified as a “Royal Acquaintance.”

The special village of Deir el-Medina on the west bank at Thebes provides a unique view into the daily lives of this class during the New Kingdom. For many generations, the artisans who dug out and decorated the royal tombs of the Valley of the Kings lived with their families in this isolated village on the edge of the desert. Due to their professions, a significant portion of the population of this village could read and write and excavations have revealed tens of thousands of ostraca (texts were jotted down on sherds of pottery or flakes of stone).

Basically the “post-its” of the ancient world, there were used for all sorts of lists, letters, simple notes, and creative drawings and provide an intimate look at their day-to-day interactions. One of the most fascinating events recorded was a worker’s strike that occurred at Deir el Medina in around 1150 B.C.E. A state shortfall had resulted in a delay of the worker’s wages and the royal artisans stopped working until the matter was addressed. The vizier himself came to the village to assure them assistance was coming, but when that fell through they struck again and even took control of the royal mortuary temples. Eventually, their demands were met and they returned to work, having successfully won the first recorded labor strike in history.

Agricultural workers and laborers—producers of the bounty

The largest portion of Egypt’s population were the illiterate masses who worked the land as independent farmers or agricultural laborers. This strata generated the crops, produced the foodstuffs, and raised the animals that supplied the populace and elite classes with the bounty of the land. This is also the group that provided much of the paid labor force for state building projects, such as the pyramids. During the annual flooding of the Nile, when it became impossible to work in the fields, these laborers were conscripted to go work on the king’s state-funded projects instead. Much less is directly recorded by this class, as they did not have the resources to commission monuments nor the knowledge to write texts. We do have some information about their lives and work through the viewpoint of the elite, although these representations depict them in terms of their service to and supporting the nobles rather than in their own right.

Images of these classes in private tombs, whether in relief or in statuary, tend to show great freedom in the way they are rendered in pose, action, and realism. They are depicted in a wide range of activities—such as gathering fish from the Nile, herding cattle, weaving cloth, making bricks, hewing wood, grinding grain, baking bread, and brewing beer—which were intended to provide benefit for the deceased in the afterlife. It was their actions performed on behalf of the deceased, rather than the figure itself, that was considered important. Regardless of the level to which they are recorded, it is clear that this group—responsible for maintaining agricultural production—was the backbone of Egyptian society.

Slaves—through capture and debt

Given that the Egyptian population was not “free” in the modern sense (in general, they could not move freely around the country or change their professions) the idea of “servitude” was viewed quite differently. Tied to the land, the vast majority of the population were considered “possessions”of the king, temple estates, or high-ranking officials, somewhat like serfs in the feudal society of medieval Europe. These peasants worked the land and paid tribute to their masters as a form of social insurance; in times of drought the landowner would open their storehouses and granaries to provide for their people. Through this administrative structure, subjects were provided with a sense of security that fostered stability and growth.

In Egypt, as elsewhere, the oldest and primary cause of slavery was capture in battle. Conquered soldiers and their communities were taken as a royal resource. Those captives who weren’t retained by the royal administration would be distributed to various towns, quarries, and temples to augment their labor forces. They were also dispersed to victorious soldiers as war booty and to deserving individuals as awards of merit. While individuals could be endowed by the king with up to 19 captives, temples could receive unlimited numbers—some texts refer to bequests of thousands of people. Native and non-native servants intermingled. For native Egyptians, the main pathway to enter the state of slavery was an inability to pay off debt; in many of these cases, the creditor not only took the debtor as a slave, but their families as well. Criminal activities could also result in a life of servitude, often for the convicted and their families both.

Slaves could be employed in domestic activities, such as cooking, brewing, cleaning, or caring for children, or in manual labor, such as farming, making bricks, gardening, or tending the animals. They were sometimes trained in particular crafts as skilled labor, which increased their value, or could be taught to read and write. Some slaves even rose to management positions on their master’s estates. Slaves could be handed down along with other property as part of an inheritance. In general, it appears that slaves assimilated quickly into the local population; they were not viewed as a separate social group. Their legal situation was not always clear, but they were capable of owning land, negotiating transactions, and had the right to private property.

Ensuring order<h3

Ancient Egyptian society hinged on the king, who ruled by the command of the gods and served as intermediary between the people and the divine. If the king lived in ma’atand fulfilled all his required roles to the satisfaction of the gods, then the land flourished and the people prospered. The ruler and officials who administered the country had clear directives regarding maintaining proper societal function and a specific responsibility to provide for the needs of the entire population. The Egyptians seem to have largely embraced and supported this hierarchy, falling in line with ma’at. Every occupation—whether scribe, potter, soldier, weaver, doctor, or farmer—was believed to play an equally important role in the smooth functioning of society.

Cite this page as: Dr. Amy Calvert, “Egyptian Social Organization—from the Pharaoh to the farmer (Part 2),” in Smarthistory, February 27, 2022, accessed September 8, 2023, https://smarthistory.org/egyptian-social-organization-from-pharaoh-to-farmer/.

 

PREDYNASTIC AND EARLY DYNASTIC EGYPT

Introduction 

Decorated jar, predynastic

King Den’s Sandal label

Palette of King Narmer

 

Introduction

by DR. AMY CALVERT

Standing at the cusp of one of the longest-lived and most influential cultures that ever existed, the people living in the Nile valley during the fifth and fourth millennia B.C.E. laid the foundation for everything to come. During this era, powerful townships developed unique local cult practices and ruling organizations. The Two Lands (Upper and Lower Egypt) became united around 3000 B.C.E. under a single king, Narmer (or Menes), who ruled as the first king of Upper and Lower Egypt. Already in this early period, many of the distinct characteristics of Egyptian culture, including kingship ideology, writing system, social structure, religious beliefs, and modes of artistic representation were introduced and codified.

Predynastic Period (c. 5000–3000 B.C.E.)

This period saw the rise of several powerful towns, especially Abydos, Naqada, and Nekhen (commonly called Hierakonpolis) and a possible unified southern kingdom. Hieroglyphic writing emerged, probably for administrative and ritual purposes to support the rulers of these southern towns. The earliest known texts were short labels and captions, but the writing system developed rapidly and helped frame the dynamic civilization that emerged along the Nile.

The ivory handle includes a thumb rest for a right-handed user. Carved rows of minuscule animals—including elephants, lions, a giraffe, and sheep—cover both surfaces of the handle. Ritual knife, c. 3300–3100 B.C.E., Pre-dynastic period, flint, elephant ivory, excavated Abu Zaidan, Egypt (Brooklyn Museum)

Copper tools and fine flint blades demonstrate the technological level of the period. Some of these flint blades sport handles with imagery that is decidedly Near Eastern in origin; these and other indications like the existence of objects crafted of lapis lazuli (a material from Afghanistan) point to active trade between Egypt and western Asia at this time.

Limestone statue of a lion from the Temple of Min at Coptos, Egypt, Late Predynastic.Currently in the collections of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford University, England (AN1894.105B) by danderson4 on Sketchfab

The craft of sculpture exploded with large-scale figures carved in stone, such as those excavated at Koptos. By the end of this era, burials sometimes included small coffins of basketwork or clay.

King Den’s sandal label, 1st dynasty, ivory, found at Abydos, Upper Egypt, 4.5 x 5.3 cm (© Trustees of the British Museum)

Early Dynastic Period (c. 3000–2686 B.C.E.)

The unification of north and south under a single ruler occurred c. 3000 B.C.E. Over the next couple of centuries, disparate townships and local cultures were bound together under the control of the single king, and a dynamic stratified society evolved. The second king to rule the newly unified Egypt introduced the important ritualized census called the “Followers of Horus.” In this annual or bi-annual event, the king and his court would tour the different regions of the country, called nomes, taking count of assets like cattle, grain, and goods. These counts would then be used to determine taxation required from each region, with proceeds being gathered to central storehouses for later distribution. These regular visits reinforced the king’s power throughout the country.

A complex pantheon of deities was already evident at this time. Local worship of Ra, Horus, Ptah, and Seth and many cult shrines were first established in this era. Items excavated from royal tombs included small labels, originally attached to grave goods, with scenes showing the king performing ritual actions for a variety of deities and may record actual visits to divine shrines associated with local cults. On the ivory label of king Den above, the ruler is shown smiting his restrained enemy before a cult object at the far right. The king’s name is clearly written in front of his face, surrounded by a falcon-surmounted rectangular form known as a serekh. He wears a prototype royal headdress with an upright cobra (called a uraeus) at his brow. The opposite side of this label is inscribed with a pair of sandals, indicating the type of grave item that it was originally attached to.

Narmer Macehead, Early Dynastic Period, c. 31st century B.C.E., found in Hierakonopolis (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford)

Other artifacts from this period include massive ceremonial mace heads, palettes, and stelae carved with scenes that commemorate important events.

Palette of King Narmer, c. 3000–2920 B.C.E., Predynastic Egypt, greywacke (slate), from Hierakonpolis, 2′ 1″ high (Egyptian Museum, Cairo)

 

A number of these votive objects, such as the Narmer palette, were discovered together in a cache excavated in the temple precinct at Hierakonpolis. There seems to be an intentional blending of actual, historical events and ritual elements in the decoration of these objects, an early indication of the tendency in ancient Egypt to blur the lines between the physical and spiritual worlds.

The goddesses Nekhbet and Wadjet (referred to as the Two Ladies), representing Upper and Lower Egypt respectively begin to appear prominently on ritual objects, as do both the White Crown of the south and the Red Crown of the north—all symbols of the Two Lands that would be used for millennia to come.

Many artistic conventions were established during this period, as was much of the royal iconography that expressed the ideology of kingship. This includes specific poses, items of clothing and regalia, and image associations, such as the smiting pose, the wearing of various crowns, and the use of bull imagery as an analogy for the king, all of which are visible on the Narmer Palette.

With the First Dynasty, focus turned from south to north and the city of Memphis was selected as the capital of the united Egypt. This move also shifted the royal cemeteries from Abydos north to the site of Saqqara. Towards the end of this era, there is a change in focus from the king honoring the gods in their local shrines to a system where the deities came together to sanctify the king and aid his journey in the afterlife.

A Decorated jar, predynastic

byTHE BRITISH MUSEUM 

Light-colored pots like this one, made of marl clay mined from desert wadis and painted with red ochre pigment, are known as Decorated ware. They are characteristic of later Predynastic times (c. 3500–3200 B.C.E.). The most intriguing are those painted with boats and human figures. This pot comes from the tomb of a young woman, at el-Amra in Middle Egypt, but pots showing boats have been found throughout Egypt and into Nubia. The boats are always strikingly similar, with a curved hull, a large number of oars, and two cabins in the center. Attached to one of the cabins (usually the right-side one) is a pole bearing an emblem, which may be the symbol of a god or a place.

A boat is drawn on each side of this pot. Above them are stylized human figures: a dancing woman with her hands raised over her head, and two men holding clappers or casinets. The woman is perhaps a goddess or priestess, and the scenes on this pot can be understood as episodes in a ritual or ceremony. On one side, the woman is called forth from the boat by the playing of one man, while the other man helps to raise her up. On the other side, both men beat out the tune, as she dances for them, conferring her blessings on them. The feathers worn in the hair of one man represents victory.

The full meaning of these scenes is still debated. Decorated ware is found mainly in graves, so the paintings may depicts the funeral procession. However because similar scenes are also known from desert rock art, the rituals may more broadly be associated with fertility and rebirth of the both humans and the land. Such concerns were important throughout Egyptian history. The ostriches, known for their large eggs, and the small bushes, also shown on the pot reinforce the message of fertility and rebirth.

The lack of variation in style, shape, and motifs of decorated pottery suggests that these vessels were manufactured at a limited number of workshops; close scrutiny has even identified the work of individual artists. The artist who painted this pot probably made at least two others found in cemeteries up to 60 km away. The development of a trade and transport system to distribute pottery was one of the critical steps towards the formation of Dynastic civilization.

© Trustees of the British Museum

Viewed as a golden age by later Egyptians, the Old Kingdom was a period of great confidence, stability, organization, and administrative control. Exemplified by the soaring pyramids and royal representations that project a remarkable level of poise and serenity, this period demonstrates the stability and wealth that resulted from the success of the storehouse-based economic system. The kings devoted huge resources to provisioning their mortuary cults via state run building projects. Power was delegated to elite overseers who administered these massive endeavors, earning royal ‘endowments’ for their own afterlife in the process. Labor, both highly-skilled and untrained, was derived from the native population (mostly during the flooding season, when fields could not be worked) and there is archeological evidence that they were fairly compensated.

Old Kingdom (c. 2649–2150 B.C.E.)

Often considered to begin with the Third Dynasty and Netjerikhet (Djoser), whose famous Step Pyramid complex initiated the massive stone royal mortuary monuments that characterize the Old Kingdom period. The role of the king became closely connected with the deities Horus and Ra making the pharaoh responsible for the maintenance of divine order (ma’at). The first Fourth Dynasty king, Snefru, was the greatest of the pyramid builders and constructed 3 massive pyramids that demonstrate the development of the smooth-sided form. The astonishing level of architectural and engineering skills belonging to the craftspeople during this time are still clearly evident, as are their useful, but sometimes less-successful, experiments along the way.

Snefru’s successor was Khufu, who used the lessons of his predecessor to build the Great Pyramid at Giza. The other two main pyramids at Giza were built by his successors Khafre and Menkaure. During this era of monumental pyramid complexes, focus on the local shrines was reduced and received less royal support. The administrative seat continued at Memphis throughout this period. Fifth Dynasty kings built smaller pyramids, some with burial chambers inscribed with texts that are among the earliest religious writings known. These Pyramid Texts, as they are now known, are also the oldest of the collections of funerary literature from Egypt. Several of these rulers constructed marvelous temples dedicated to the sun god Ra, whose cult was on the rise throughout the Old Kingdom.

View the Chambers of Unas/Weni on Sketchfab

Elites who served the kings of this period were honored with beautifully decorated tombs located in cemeteries surrounding the royal monuments. The process of mummification was largely developed by this point and bodies were usually interred in rectangular coffins of wood. Near the end of the Sixth Dynasty, sections of the Pyramid Texts, previously reserved for royalty, began to appear in the tombs of important non-royal individuals—an apparent symptom of the breakdown of centralized control that led to the end of the Old Kingdom.

This breakdown was likely caused by a number of factors, possibly including famine. One major factor may have been the unusually long reign of Pepy II in Dynasty 6. Having reigned from early childhood until his 90s, Pepy outlived several of his expected heirs, possibly causing succession issues upon the king’s death. This same period saw the power of regional governors, called nomarchs, increase. These elite positions had become hereditary over time, coalescing into generational control over localities. As their importance grew, these nomarchs became increasingly more independent from the king. The simultaneous rise of numerous nomarchs resulted in conflict between neighboring provinces and exacerbated the disintegration of centralized control that occurred at the end of the Old Kingdom.

Cite this page as: Dr. Amy Calvert, “Old Kingdom and First Intermediate Period, an introduction,” in Smarthistory, February 4, 2022, accessed September 8, 2023, https://smarthistory.org/old-kingdom-first-intermediate-period-introduction/.

Step Pyramid complex at Saqqara

Pyramid building in ancient Egypt had its “big bang” at Saqqara in the 3rd Dynasty with a genius named Imhotep, who served as chancellor to king Netjeryknet, better known as Djoser. Djoser not only placed his mortuary complex (which was intended for the king’s ka (spirit) to use in the afterlife) at the site of Saqqara—a different location from his predecessors—but the complex he developed with Imhotep would impact all royal memorial monuments made after his. While the complex had many innovations, among the most important are that it was the first mortuary structure in stone, the first stepped pyramid instead of a single mastaba (a flat, rectangular tomb form), and the first to combine both mortuary and ritual buildings, and to pair functional buildings with dummy ones that couldn’t actually be used.

Djoser’s complex has numerous features, and this essay introduces some of the most important ones as it walks readers through the site. They include the:

• enclosure wall and entrance to the complex
• entry colonnade
• south court
• T-temple
• Heb Sed Court
• North and South Houses
• Step Pyramid
• Serdab and temple to the ka
• King’s burial chamber
• subterranean chambers
• South Tomb

You can read more about these structures in: https://smarthistory.org/step-pyramid-complex-saqqara/

Royal enclosure of King Khasekhemwy (known as the Shunet el Zebib), end 2nd Dynasty c. 2650 B.C.E.,  Abydos, Egypt (photo: Dr. Amy Calvert)

Size and appearance

The second great pyramid of Giza was built by Khufu’s second son Khafre. At the very top, a section of outer casing stones like those that would have originally covered all three of the Great Pyramids still survives. Although this monument appears larger than that of his father, it is actually slightly smaller but was constructed 10 meters (33 feet) higher on the plateau.

Interior

The interior is much simpler than that of Khufu’s pyramid, with a single burial chamber, one small subsidiary chamber, and two passageways. The mortuary temple at the pyramid base was more complex than that of Khufu and was filled with statuary of the king—over 52 life-size or larger images originally filled the structure.

Valley temple

Khafre’s valley temple, located at the east end of the causeway leading from the pyramid base, is beautifully preserved. It was constructed of megalithic blocks sheathed with granite and floors of polished white calcite. During excavation, a magnificent just over life size statue of the king carved of an extremely hard stone known as gneiss was discovered buried under the floor of the Valley Temple. This sculpture shows the king seated on a lion throne that has on its sides a symbol of the two heraldic plants of Upper and Lower Egypt, the papyrus and lotus, bound around a hieroglyph for “stability.” This important emblem, known as a sema-tawy (“binding the Two Lands”), represents the king’s primary duty—to “bind” the country under the authority of a single ruler. The king is supported in his task by the Horus falcon that wraps protectively around the back of his nemes headdress. Statue bases and other fragments indicate that this was one of about 23 such images of the pharaoh that were originally located in this temple.

The Great Sphinx

Right next to the causeway leading from Khafre’s valley temple to the mortuary temple sits the first truly colossal sculpture in Egyptian history: the Great Sphinx. This close physical association (along with other evidence) indicates that this massive depiction of a recumbent lion with the head of a king was carved for Khafre.

The Sphinx is carved from the bedrock of the Giza plateau, and it appears that the core blocks used to construct the king’s valley temple were quarried from the layers of stone that run along the upper sides of this massive image.

Khafre

The lion was a royal symbol as well as being connected with the sun as a symbol of the horizon; the fusion of this powerful animal with the head of the pharaoh was an icon that survived and was often used throughout Egyptian history. The king’s head is on a smaller scale than the body. This appears to have been due to a defect in the stone; a weakness recognized by the sculptors who compensated by elongating the body.

Directly in front of the Sphinx is a separate temple dedicated to the worship of its cult, but very little is known about it since there are no Old Kingdom texts that refer to the Sphinx or its temple. The temple is similar to Khafre’s mortuary temple and has granite pillars forming a colonnade around a central courtyard.  However, it is unique in that it has two sanctuaries—one on the east and one on the west—likely connected to the rising and setting sun.

Google Maps link

Additional resources:

The Giza Plateau Mapping Project (GPMP)

Digital Giza—Khafre Pyramid and Sphinx

The Sphinx Project

Khafre statue

The third of the major pyramids at Giza belongs to Menkaure. This is the smallest of the three, rising to a height of 65 meters (213 feet), but the complex preserved some of the most stunning examples of sculpture to survive from all of Egyptian history.

Menkaure’s pyramid chambers are more complicated than those of Khafre and include a chamber carved with decorative panels and another chamber with six large niches. The burial chamber is lined with massive granite blocks. His black stone sarcophagus, also carved with niched panels, was discovered inside, but was lost at sea in 1838 as it was being transported to England.

Within Menkaure’s mortuary and valley temples, neither of which were completed before his death, excavation revealed a series of statues of the king. The stunning diad of the king with a queen (now in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston), as well as a number of triads showing the king being embraced by various deities, were discovered in the valley temple and were originally set up surrounding the open court.

This temple was still an active place of cult late in the Old Kingdom and was almost entirely rebuilt at the end of the 6th dynasty after it was heavily damaged by a flood.

Additional resources

The lost sarcophagus

Menkaure Pyramid at Digital Giza

Google Maps link

Serene ethereal beauty, raw royal power, and evidence of artistic virtuosity have rarely been simultaneously captured as well as in this breathtaking, nearly life-size statue of the pharaoh Menkaure and a queen from c. 2490–2472 B.C.E. Smooth as silk, the meticulously finished surface of the dark stone captures the physical ideals of the time and creates a sense of eternity and immortality even today.

Undoubtedly, the most iconic structures from Ancient Egypt are the massive and enigmatic Great Pyramids that stand on a natural stone shelf, now known as the Giza plateau, on the south-western edge of modern Cairo. The three primary pyramids at Giza were constructed during the height of a period known as the Old Kingdom and served as burial places, memorials, and places of worship for a series of deceased rulers—the largest belonging to King Khufu, the middle to his son Khafre, and the smallest of the three to his son Menkaure.

Pyramids are not stand-alone structures. Those at Giza formed only a part of a much larger complex that included a temple at the base of the pyramid itself, long causeways and corridors, small subsidiary pyramids, and a second temple (known as a valley temple) some distance from the pyramid. These Valley Temples were used to perpetuate the cult of the deceased king and were active places of worship for hundreds of years (sometimes much longer) after the king’s death. Images of the king were placed in these temples to serve as a focus for worship—several such images have been found in these contexts, including the magnificent enthroned statue of Khafre with the Horus falcon wrapped around his headdress.

On January 10, 1910, excavators under the direction of George Reisner, head of the joint Harvard University-Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Expedition to Egypt, uncovered an astonishing collection of statuary in the Valley Temple connected to the Pyramid of Menkaure. Menkaure’s pyramid had been explored in the 1830’s (using dynamite, no less). His carved granite sarcophagus was removed (and subsequently lost at sea), and while the Pyramid Temple at its base was in only mediocre condition; the Valley Temple was—happily—basically ignored.

Reisner had been excavating on the Giza plateau for several years at this point; his team had already explored the elite cemetery to the west of the Great Pyramid of Khufu before turning their attention to the Menkaure complex, most particularly the barely-touched Valley Temple.

Menkaure flanked by Hathor (left) and nome goddess (Egyptian Museum, Cairo)

In the southwest corner of the structure, the team discovered a magnificent cache of statuary carved in a smooth-grained dark stone called greywacke or schist. There were a number of triad statues—each showing 3 figures; the king, the fundamentally important goddess Hathor, and the personification of a nome (a geographic designation, similar to the modern idea of a region, district, or county). Hathor was worshipped in the pyramid temple complexes along with the supreme sun god Re and the god Horus, who was represented by the living king. The goddess’s name is actually ‘Hwt-hor’, which means “The House of Horus”, and she was connected to the wife of the living king and the mother of the future king. Hathor was also a fierce protector who guarded her father Re; as an “Eye of Re” (the title assigned to a group of dangerous goddesses), she could embody the intense heat of the sun and use that blazing fire to destroy his enemies.

There were 4 complete triads, one incomplete, and at least one other in a fragmentary condition. The precise meaning of these triads is uncertain. Reisner believed that there was one for each ancient Egyptian nome, meaning there would have originally been more than thirty of them. More recent scholarship, however, suggests that there were originally 8 triads, each connected with a major site associated with the cult of Hathor. Hathor’s prominence in the triads (she actually takes the central position in one of the images) and her singular importance to kingship lends weight to this theory.

In addition to the triads, Reisner’s team also revealed the extraordinary dyad statue of Menkaure and a queen that is breathtakingly singular.

The two figures stand side-by-side on a simple, squared base and are supported by a shared back pillar. They both face to the front, although Menkaure’s head is noticeably turned to his right—this image was likely originally positioned within an architectural niche, making it appear as though they were emerging from the structure.

The broad-shouldered, youthful body of the king is covered only with a traditional short pleated kilt, known as a shendjet, and his head sports the primary pharaonic insignia of the iconic striped nemes headdress  and an artificial royal beard. In his clenched fists, held straight down at his sides, Menkaure grasps ritual cloth rolls. His body is straight, strong, and eternally youthful with no signs of age. His facial features are remarkably individualized with prominent eyes, a fleshy nose, rounded cheeks, and full mouth with protruding lower lip.

Heads (detail), King Menkaure (Mycerinus) and queen, 2490–2472 B.C.E., greywacke, 142.2 x 57.1 x 55.2 cm (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, photo: Steven Zucker, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Menkaure’s queen provides the perfect female counterpart to his youthful masculine virility. Sensuously modeled with a beautifully proportioned body emphasized by a clinging garment, she articulates ideal mature feminine beauty. There is a sense of the individual in both faces. Neither Menkaure nor his queen are depicted in the purely idealized manner that was the norm for royal images. Instead, through the overlay of royal formality we see the depiction of a living person filling the role of pharaoh and the personal features of a particular individual in the representation of his queen.

Seated cross-legged, with rolls of belly fat, this painted statue differs from the ideal statues of pharaohs.

Egyptian sculpture is often thought to consist only of massive and regal statues of the kings of Egypt. However, there exist also more intimate images, so-called ‘private’ sculptures, made to be placed in the tombs of non-royal officials. The earliest date to the Third Dynasty (about 2686–2613 B.C.E.).

In this statue a ship-builder named Ankhwa is shown holding an adze, a woodworking tool indicative of his trade. An inscription carved on the figure’s kilt gives his name and titles. One of these titles ranks Ankhwa as a royal acquaintance. The quality of Ankhwa’s statue reflects this status and this statue was probably made in a royal workshop.

The style of private sculptures closely follows the conventions set by royal sculpture. It was static, frontally posed, and with idealized features. Before the Fourth Dynasty (about 2613–2494 B.C.E.), sculpture ‘in the round’ is rare, but this example from Third Dynasty is outstanding. The style is typical of this date: the slightly squat figure, the protruding face, and the curve of the back more pronounced than in ‘classic’ later Egyptian sculpture, although these features are partly the result of the hard granite chosen for the statue.

© Trustees of the British Museum

MIDDLE KINGDOM (c. 2030–1640 B.C.E.)

Introduction

During the Middle Kingdom (Dynasty 11–13), many of the principles of Egyptian culture that had emerged at its outset and been codified during the Old Kingdom were adjusted and redefined. These included significant shifts in religious practices, afterlife beliefs, and the ideology of kingship.

Nebhepetra Mentuhotep II re-unified Egypt and established the Middle Kingdom, which is often considered the classical period for Egypt’s politics, literature, and art. Although he ruled the unified country from the city of Memphis, as the pharaohs of the Old Kingdom had done, he built his innovative mortuary complex on the west side of the Nile at Thebes. He and his successors devoted considerable attention to the Theban region, adding to the already-established shrine of the local god Amun and building the initial core for the temple at Karnak (which would subsequently be added to by nearly every following ruler for millennia). There is evidence for vastly expanded royal patronage of divine temples all over Egypt during the Middle Kingdom. This campaign not only re-solidified the connections between the king and the gods, but was also a way to stress the king’s presence at key regional centers.

Twelfth Dynasty rulers focused their attention on restoring the glories of the Old Kingdom while accommodating the beliefs, innovations in style, and architectural forms that were introduced or developed at Thebes. These kings constructed a new royal residence in the Fayum region southwest of Memphis and were buried nearby in pyramids with elaborate temples. Unfortunately, due to the construction methods used and later stone mining, none survive in good condition. Unlike the solid limestone Old Kingdom pyramids, Middle Kingdom monuments of this type were built with a core of mud brick. After the outer casing stone was removed for reuse during the ancient and medieval eras, the brick cores were exposed, and have long since eroded.

During the middle of the Twelfth Dynasty, a fascinating shift in the way pharaoh was portrayed occurred. In texts of the period, the role of the “Good Shepherd” becomes emphasized and, around the same time, the weight of royal responsibilities becomes evident in representations of the king. This dramatic shift in style is most clearly seen in the facial features of images of Senwosret II, Senwosret III, and Amenemhat III. Looking at these heavy faces, with their creased brows and drooping mouths, it is clear that profound changes had occurred.

Elite necropolises carved into cliff sides along the Nile preserve non-royal aspects of the mortuary cult in this time. Much of the iconography in the tomb scenes is similar to late Old Kingdom, but new scenes also appear, including the representations of deities, especially the god Osiris. Models with figures in lively poses performing daily activities, like brewing, baking, and slaughtering cattle, were found in tombs of this era. Also during this period servant figures known as shabtis, which were designed to work for the deceased in the afterlife, began to appear. Private monuments dedicated to Osiris become prevalent and indicate a democratization of access to the divine, allowing more people the opportunity to interact with the gods.

Rulers during the Middle Kingdom expanded control to the south into Nubia, building a series of mudbrick forts along the river as far south as Semna (below the Second Cataract) in order to better control the mines of gold and other valuable materials in the region, such as ebony, ostrich feathers, leopard skins, ivory, exotic animals, incense and a variety of hard stones. They also re-established trade routes to far-off Syrian cities for luxury goods such as cedar, wine, silver, and oil. There is evidence for robust trade interactions with other cultures as well: Minoan pottery sherds suggest trade with Crete and Asiatic artifacts, like large numbers of weights found in urban settings and the stunning assemblage of treasure discovered in four bronze chests under the temple of Montu at Tod, indicates connections beyond Syria-Palestine.

This was a period of wealth and prosperity—a rich body of literature was produced, relief carvings of sublime beauty were created, bronze metalworking appears, and some of the most exceptional jewelry from the ancient world was crafted during this time. Several sets of highly-symbolic jewelry were discovered in the tombs of royal women. Imagery in the jewelry, statuary, and other depictions of royal women during this period show a strong connection between them and the goddess Hathor. Both the mother and wife of Horus in various myths, Hathor was also described as the mother, wife, or daughter of the sun god Ra—both male deities that the king was closely linked with. Royal women seem to have been viewed as mortal representatives of Hathor, serving a vital function in regeneration.

Female sphinxes appeared during the Middle Kingdom, emphasizing a new connection between royal women in the fiercely protective role of the sun god’s daughter, the Eye of Ra. Although in general these developments in identity didn’t necessarily indicate significant changes in political status for royal women, it is interesting that the last king of the Twelfth Dynasty was the first known sole female ruler of Egypt, Nefrusobek.

By the Thirteenth Dynasty, centralized royal authority was again on the decline and control over Lower Egypt became more challenging. The ruling city of Lisht was abandoned and the kings reestablished the royal court and administrative seat in the southern city of Thebes. It would be nearly 150 years before a king would rule again over the united Two Lands.

Scarab pendant

“You have to imagine that nobody really saw this except the princess.”

After the cultural height and military might of the New Kingdom, the fractured Third Intermediate Period led to a loss of control over areas that had been Egyptian territories. Since power vacuums never last, there was an immediate rise in the Kushite culture to the south, which reestablished old cultural centers along major trade routes and utilized the Egyptian temple structures in Nubia to help legitimize their rule as kings of Egypt. Even though Egypt was largely unified for most of Dynasties 25, 26 and 28–30, the era referred to as the Late Period (c. 713–332 B.C.E.) was volatile and endured successive invasions and occupations by the Assyrians and the Persians.

Eventually, Egypt was conquered by Alexander the Great of Macedon in 332 B.C.E. Alexander built his new capital at Alexandria on the Mediterranean Sea. The subsequent Ptolemaic Period saw a huge increase in settlers of Greek and Mediterranean origins, especially in the delta. Hellenistic influence was particularly strong at court and in elite circles, with Greek versions of local gods (like Serapis, who was derived from Osiris) holding sway. For the majority of the country, however, Egyptian traditions and art were largely unaffected. The Ptolemies presented themselves as pharaohs and were shown performing traditional cult rituals in the many massive temples constructed during this period.

When the Ptolemaic ruler Cleopatra VII was defeated by Octavian in 30 B.C.E., Egypt became a Roman province. Roman emperors continued to build Egyptian-style temples, with themselves depicted on the walls performing the same rituals as the kings that came before them. Egyptian-style temple constructions undertaken by Rome stopped during the second century C.E., as Rome’s own political instability rippled through the empire. Egyptian temples were ordered closed by the Byzantine emperor and the last known hieroglyphic inscription (at Philae) was carved in 394 C.E.

Late Period (c. 713–332 B.C.E.)

The kings of Egypt of the Twenty-fifth Dynasty came from Kush, a culture that had combined Nubian and Egyptian elements to create something unique. The chief religious site in Kush, the mountain of Gebel Barkal, sported temples of Amun-Ra and Hathor and royal inscriptions, such as on the victory stela of King Piye, are packed with references to Egyptian deities. While they established control as far north as Memphis, they focused more of their attention in the south. At Karnak, the powerful priestess known as the God’s Wife of Amun rose even further in eminence; these figures served as royal surrogates in Thebes for kings who ruled from another location. This role was often filled by princesses of Dynasties 25 and 26.

In the seventh century B.C.E., the Assyrians invaded Egypt down to Thebes and pushed the Nubian kings back to Kush. The Assyrians looted sacred sites, including the temples at Heliopolis and Karnak, stealing massive amounts of treasure. However, given the military needs of their empire elsewhere, they did not have the manpower to leave a large force in Egypt. Instead, they appointed Egyptian governors to collect their tribute. As soon as the Assyrians were otherwise occupied, a family from Sais in the delta region took over and ruled an independent Egypt as the Twenty-sixth Dynasty.

The Twenty-sixth Dynasty kings established themselves down to the southern border at Elephantine and north into Palestine. They increased their contacts with other Mediterranean powers, including treaties with Lydia, connections at Delphi, and actions on Cyprus. A significant Greek trading colony was founded at Naukratis and garrisons of Greek mercenaries helped protect the temples at Memphis.

The next few centuries saw an invasion and period of rule by the Persians, a subsequent brief period of Egyptian rule, followed by a second, more destructive, Persian invasion. In 332 B.C.E., the Persians were pushed out by Alexander the Great of Macedon. He was crowned king in the temple of Ptah at Memphis, declared himself a living god, and founded the city of Alexandria on the coast of the Mediterranean. After his death, Alexander’s generals divided his empire, with Egypt coming under the control of the Greek general, Ptolemy. This family would rule Egypt for the next 300 years.

Ptolemaic (c. 332–30 B.C.E.) and Roman (c. 30 B.C.E.–395 C.E.)

During the Ptolemaic period, the country was ruled from the newly-established city of Alexandria. The structure of the government and administrative organization was aligned in accordance with Greek practices. Almost all important government posts were given to Greek settlers rather than native Egyptians. Although the Ptolemaic era was decidedly multi-cultural and multilingual, with significant Greek influence evident in many arenas, the ruling family readily identified themselves with Egyptian deities and encouraged the populace to view them as such. Many were crowned in the temple of Ptah at Memphis and they supported ancient religious cults. They also undertook a massive temple rebuilding program to help legitimize their rule. These temples were traditional Egyptian in style, both architecturally and in their decoration, although Greek flourishes are often discernible in the carving and there was a massive increase in the number of hieroglyphic signs used. Ptolemaic rulers had themselves depicted in relief performing the same duties before the divine as their native predecessors had been doing for millennia.

Ptolemaic kings were prolific builders and they constructed huge temples at Edfu, Esna, Dedera, Kom Ombo, and Philae, among others. Beyond the religious realm, King Ptolemy II founded the famous Library of Alexandria, which at its height contained around 700,000 scrolls. This king also completed the dazzling Pharos lighthouse; one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world.

In 196 B.C.E. King Ptolemy V Epipanes issued a decree to establish his divine cult. This was carved onto a slab of granodiorite and was probably originally erected in a temple. Three versions of the same decree were engraved on the slab; two being in ancient Egyptian and one in Greek. Much later, the slab was removed and used as building material in a fort near Rosetta in the delta, where it was discovered by Napoleon’s expedition in 1799. Being a bilingual document with well-known Greek as one of the languages, the  discovery of the Rosetta stone immediately began the race to translate the ancient Egyptian language.

The last of the Ptolemaic rulers was Cleopatra VII, who allied herself first with Julius Caesar and then with Mark Anthony in an attempt to keep Egypt from being absorbed into the Roman Empire. In the end, she was unsuccessful and in 30 B.C.E. Egypt succumbed to the forces of Octavian, who subsequently became the first Roman emperor, Augustus. This was the end of Egypt’s independence and it became a Roman province.

During the Roman period, Egypt was treated as a bread-basket and source of rich resources. Grain, papyrus, hard stones, statues, obelisks, and treasure of all kinds were removed to Rome and other locations in the empire.

Alexandria was a nexus of Greek culture and a major hub for trade routes into the desert and to the East. Several Roman emperors, including Augustus, Trajan, and Hadrian, constructed cult temples in Egypt and had themselves depicted in the same poses and ritual actions as the kings who ruled before them to help establish their legitimacy. There was a clear interest in the ancient wisdom of this mysterious and enigmatic land—Egypt was renowned throughout the empire as the realm of priest-magicians.

Along the Nile, funerary beliefs remained largely unchanged though more focus was placed on the external embellishment of the body. Modern styles were added to the painted coffins and images that represented the deceased, with Greco-Roman hairstyles, jewelry, and dress appearing. Sensitive and haunting portraits of the dead, painted on wooden panels using encaustic (a luminescent wax-based paint that can be built up in many layers that creates a dazzling sense of depth) began to be inserted into the bandages over the face of the often elaborately wrapped body. Startling in their realism, they represent the culmination of the ancient Egyptian desire to ensure that the body was preserved and immediately identifiable.

The classic Egyptian language and hieroglyphs were only used for temple and ritual contexts by this point, however, Coptic emerged as a new written form of the Egyptian language and proliferated.

As political challenges arose during the second century C.E., less attention was directed at the provinces. Economic changes included an increase in the prominence of urban centers. In 392 C.E. Egyptian temples were ordered closed by the Christian emperor of Byzantium and the last known hieroglyphic inscription (at Philae) was carved in 394 C.E.

In the fourth century C.E. pharaonic culture slowly came to an end as Christianity became the dominant religion in the Empire. Christianity arrived in Egypt early in the first century C.E., anchored in the flourishing Jewish community in Alexandria. Said to have been martyred in Alexandria in 66 C.E., Saint Mark was referred to as the first bishop of the city, which became a leading intellectual center of the Christian Church. Because it was protected by Nubian tribes who honored the goddess Isis, the last operating cult temple in Egypt was that of Isis at Philae on Egypt’s southern border. It closed in the sixth century C.E. From this point on, no one was left who could read the ancient texts and knowledge of the gods, their myths, and the written history of Egypt itself slipped into shadow until hieroglyphs were deciphered again in the 1800s using what is now known as the Rosetta Stone.

Despite the fact that pharaonic Egypt came to an end in the late imperial Roman period, Egypt’s influence continues. For instance, Egyptian monuments, such as obelisks, sphinxes, and other statues that were erected in Rome and elsewhere created a legacy of wonder that helped spark the Italian Renaissance and persists even today. Ancient authors consistently refer to Egypt as an influential ancestor and a source for aspects of Greek and Roman culture, a concept that likely impacted many artists and scholars over the centuries. It may be surprising to learn that mummification was practiced in Egypt as late as the seventh century C.E., even among Christians, and many ancient Egyptian traditions and rituals live on still today in Coptic Christianity and local Islamic practices. Revivals of Egyptian style in architecture, design, jewelry, furniture, and dress have accompanied every major discovery since Napoleon’s expeditions of 1798, especially the spectacular discovery of the tomb of king Tutankhamun in 1922. Egypt’s draw is undeniable and its mysteries eternal; the more you learn about Egypt, the more you realize how much you really don’t know . . . and the rabbit hole never ends.

A portrait shows what an individual would have looked like. Ancient Egyptians did not make much use of portraits; inscriptions containing the name and titles of an individual were used for identification purposes instead. Portraits were, however, important in Roman art. They were placed in tombs as a memorial of family members.

This type of portrait appeared in Egypt in the first century C.E., and remained popular for around 200 years. Egyptian mummy portraits were placed on the outside of the cartonnage coffin over the head of the individual or were carefully wrapped into the mummy bandages. They were painted on a wooden board at a roughly lifelike scale. It is possible to date some mummies on the basis of the hairstyles, jewelry and clothes worn in the portrait, and to identify members of a family by their physical similarities.

Mummy portrait of a man

Most mummy portraits that have survived have unfortunately become separated from the mummies to which they were attached. Because of this we rarely know the identities of the subjects.

The subject of this portrait, painted in encaustic on limewood, appears to be a man in his fifties or sixties of strikingly Roman appearance. He is dressed in a tunic with a violet stripe, or clavus, and a thick folded mantle. The hair is brushed forward and cropped in the style of court portraits of the Trajanic period (98-117 C.E.). Pink has been used to highlight his nose and lips, and dark brown to indicate shading and the contours of the face. The portrait gives the impression of age, authority and austerity. These characteristics were very important in Rome, and are here represented in a very Roman manner.

The accuracy of these portraits has often been questioned. Techniques employed by doctors to plan delicate facial surgery have been used to compare the actual appearance of several mummies with their portraits. These techniques have helped prove that the portrait did indeed show the person as they appeared during life. Of course, there was still some element of artistic license; for example, the mummy of Artimedorus appeared to be much more heavily built than he seemed in his portrait.

Mummy portrait of a woman

This portrait is painted in encaustic on limewood. The woman is dressed in a mauve tunic, and a mantle of a darker shade. She wears gold ball earrings and a gold necklace with a pendant crescent and circular terminals. The hair is plaited into a bun at the back of the crown, with snail curls around the brow and at the sides of the head. Her hairstyle, costume and jewelry indicate that she died some time during the reign of the Roman emperor Nero (54-68 C.E.). It has been said that the athletic quality of this portrait is more appropriate to that of a man.

The Kushites subsequently re-established trade relations with Roman Egypt. From the mid-second century C.E., their main commercial rival was the kingdom of Axum in the highlands of Ethiopia. When Roman trade with Nubia declined and the Romans began using the Axumite port of Adulis on the Red Sea, the resulting loss of revenue undermined Meroe’s economy and contributed to its eventual decline around 350.