Ancient Egyptian Tombs - Hardcover

by Steven Snape (Author)

This book explores the development of tombs as a cultural phenomenon in ancient Egypt and examines what tombs reveal about ancient Egyptian culture and Egyptians' belief in the afterlife.

• Investigates the roles of tombs in the development of funerary practices
• Draws on a range of data, including architecture, artifacts and texts
• Discusses tombs within the context of everyday life in Ancient Egypt
• Stresses the importance of the tomb as an eternal expression of the self

Back Jacket

ANCIENT EGYPTIAN TOMBS

Ancient Egyptian tombs were not designed as places where the dead were buried and forgotten. They were the places where carefully preserved bodies were securely stored for eternity. The best of them were architecturally spectacular, richly decorated with carved and painted reliefs, and replete with a range of specialized grave goods and statues. Their prominent visibility was a reminder of the ongoing relationship between the dead and the living.

These collections of extraordinary physical evidence, unique in the ancient world, tell us a great deal about how the Egyptians regarded the afterlife. Using all of the relevant data available, including architecture, artefacts and texts, this book explores the development of the tomb as a cultural phenomenon in Ancient Egypt. The author discusses tombs within the context of everyday life, particularly ongoing social and economic relationships, while stressing the importance of the tomb as an eternal expression of the self.

Author Biography

STEVEN SNAPE is Senior Lecturer in Egyptian Archaeology at the University of Liverpool, Director of Archaeological Collections in Liverpool University's Garstang Museum of Archaeology and Director of its excavations at the Ramesside fortress-town of Zawiyet Umm el-Rakham. His books include Six Archaeological Sites in Sharqiyeh Province (1986), A Temple of Domitian at El-Ashmunein (1990), Egyptian Temples (1996) and Zawiyet Umm el-Rakham I: The Temple and Chapels (with P. Wilson, 2007).