Ancient Egyptian Funerals: How Were They Buried?

3/18/2022

Most articles about death in ancient Egypt surround mummies. But I’m more interested in their funerary rites. How were the ancient Egyptians buried? Did all of them get mummies and sarcophagi? Let’s go back 5,000 years.

The Ancient Egyptian Soul and the Afterlife

Before we talk about the funerals, I want to clarify some beliefs about the Egyptian afterlife. Most sources talk about the process of the soul entering the afterlife and getting judged (as detailed in The Book of the Dead). But what happens after that?

According to scholar Margaret Bunson, author of the Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, the Egyptian afterlife was not in the clouds or underground. The realm of the dead, known as the Field of Reeds, was a mirror image of life on earth. If the proper funerary rites were carried out, souls could eat, drink, and even party.

In ancient Egyptian theology, the soul consisted of nine parts: the khat, ka, ba, shuyet, akh, ab, sahu, sechem, and ren. For the purposes of this article, the most important ones are the ka and akh.

The ka was the vital force that joined the deceased during the burial. It is not the body itself; that’s the khat. The ka was basically a person’s second form that was present during the funeral. When the Egyptians presented offerings, they gave them to the ka.

The akh is the closest concept to our modern-day ghost. It was an immortal, spiritual self that operated within the realm of the living and the dead. In other words, the akh could affect day-to-day life. The Egyptians worked to keep the akh happy so that the deceased wouldn’t haunt them.

Judgement scene from The Book of the Dead. Wikipedia/The British Museum

Hauntings were taken very seriously. They could cause illness, bring bad luck, or damage a person’s property. According to the World History Encyclopedia, ancient morticians would advertise their services as making a family haunt-free. On the other hand, the akh was also petitioned in curses. Family members could write to the akh and ask them to haunt another person.

During funerals, ancient Egyptians were trying to do two things: (1) help the soul be happy in the afterlife, and (2) prevent the soul from terrorizing them.

One last thing. There are three deities who will frequently pop up throughout this post, so let’s get familiar with Them:

Osiris, God of agriculture, fertility, death, the underworld, and eternal life. The myth of Osiris’s death and resurrection was extremely influential in Egypt.
Isis, Goddess of the moon, life, and magic. She was often associated with mourning since she mourned the death of her husband and brother, Osiris.
Nephthys, Goddess of mourning, funerary rites, night, darkness, protection, and magic. As Isis’s sister, She is seen as “the experience of death,” while Isis is “the experience of birth.”

You might be wondering about Anubis. It’s true that He governed funerals and embalming, but He was mostly worshiped by embalmers. Common folk usually called upon Anubis for protection spells (according to Murry Hope in her book, The Ancient Wisdom of Egypt).

Mummies: Were They Really That Common?

I can’t talk about ancient Egyptian funerals without mentioning mummies. Mummification was such a complex process that it deserves its own blog post.

That said, mummies are not an indication of Egyptian culture or even their funerals.

Narciso Arellano/Unsplash

First off, not everyone was mummified. The process was expensive and time-consuming, so most of the time, it was reserved for the wealthy. During the Egyptian Empire (3150 - 332 BCE), mummification became affordable and therefore more common. Even if the poor couldn’t afford mummies, they still had a funeral.

Second, the mummification process changed throughout the centuries. It also changed based on the deceased’s wealth and the area they were buried in. Because of this, I’m not going to spend much time talking about mummies.

I’ll give you a brief overview of the mummification process, based on what I read from scholar Salima Ikram. Embalmers would first remove the brain and internal organs. They then covered the body in natron, a type of salt. According to the Smithsonian, natron would remove all moisture from the body, which would prevent the decomposition process. Once the body was dried, embalmers wrapped the corpse in linen (usually hundreds of yards long). They glued the linen together with gum. The entire process took 70 days.

What happened to the people who weren’t mummified? They were still embalmed, but not fully mummified. Instead of being wrapped in linen, the dead wore their old clothes. They were then placed in a coffin and buried, much like today’s dead. Many were also placed in a sarcophagus, a stone container that held the coffin.

The Coffin and Sarcophagus

Like today, mourners had to purchase a coffin. Greek historian Herodotus (484 - 425 BC) wrote about this process extensively. According to him, embalmers offered three types of wood for the coffin, ranging from cheap to expensive. “The best and most expensive kind is said to represent Osiris,” he wrote.

This tree is likely cedar. In one myth, Osiris was thrown into a coffin and tossed into the Nile. His coffin ended up embedded in a cedar tree. According to a 2021 Italian study, several ancient Egyptian coffins were made with Lebanon cedar.

Sycamore fig was also a common coffin wood because it was lightweight and easy to process. This was likely one of the cheaper options.

Open coffins at the Egyptian museum in Cairo. Nataliia Blazhko/Unsplash

Many families would also pay for a sarcophagus. The sarcophagus didn’t just protect the body; it also had spiritual uses. Many were inscribed with hieroglyph spells. One was written vertically down the back of the sarcophagus. It gave the soul strength to eat and move around. Sometimes, instructions were carved inside of the sarcophagus. These are called the Coffin Texts and are a fun read for any death worker. In short, they’re a series of instructions that tells the soul what to do and where to go for a happy afterlife.

The Funeral

Once the family had their coffin and sarcophagus, and the body was embalmed, the funeral could begin.

Most funerals started from the embalmer’s tent. The procession followed the coffin, which was carried on a cart pulled by oxen. Relatives walked along either side of the coffin. Usually, there were at least two priestesses there, one for Isis and one for Nephthys. Relatives carried offerings and the deceased’s belongings. If applicable, one person carried the canopic jar. This jar held the corpse’s organs and was buried with the body.

Illustration of funeral procession. Judith Bartolome/Pinterest

Herodotus described Egyptian funerals as being dramatic, as people plastered their faces with mud and beat their breasts while mourning. It was believed that the Gods and the person’s soul (ka) could hear everyone’s mourning. Also, larger processions were an indication of the deceased’s high status.

In fact, some Egyptians were even hired to join funerals and mourn. These groups were called the Kites of Nephthys (as Nephthys was often depicted with kites), and they were almost always women. During the procession, they would sing “The Lamentation of Isis and Nephthys,” about the two Goddesses weeping over Osiris. Definitely a dream job.

Some processions included extra priests, dancers, and musicians. Basically, the wealthier the deceased, the more dramatic their funeral was.

So where did the procession go? Like us, the Egyptians had cemeteries. Most were buried in a dry spot west of the Nile, since the corpse would dry out more quickly. In many cases, the coffin and mourners would have to board a boat and sail there.

Once they reached the open grave, priests performed a ritual called the Opening of the Mouth. Remember when I said that the dead could eat and drink? The Opening of the Mouth ensured that the deceased could move their arms, legs, and mouth to fully enjoy the afterlife. (This ritual first appeared during the Old Kingdom, 2613 - 2181 BC).

Opening of the Mouth included purification rituals, anointing, prayers, and spells. The priest/ess would gently touch the mouth, arms, and legs with a ceremonial knife. This ensured that the soul could move. Many recited a prayer called “The Litany of Osiris.” For pharaohs, the priest would read the Pyramid Texts, Egypt’s oldest known funerary texts.

When the ritual concluded, the body was buried. The mourners then had a feast that celebrated the deceased’s life.

Opening of the mouth wall painting from Tutankhamun's tomb. Nikola Smolenski/Wikipedia Commons

Offerings

Pretty much every funeral includes some offering to the deceased. Nowadays, offerings are usually flowers placed on the grave. In ancient Egypt, offerings were buried with the body.

Most offerings were items that the deceased owned. Family members would bury their favorite belongings, believing that these items would join them in the afterlife. Food and drink were also common offerings, mainly bread and beer.

One of the most uniquely Egyptian offerings is the shabti doll (also called ushabti). This doll contained a spirit that would accompany the soul into the afterlife.

Similar to life on earth, souls were expected to work in the afterlife. But the shabti doll could take the soul’s place. If a person was buried with the doll, then Osiris would call upon the doll to work instead of the person. They were basically spirit servants who gave the deceased a vacation.

The wealthier the deceased, the more shabti dolls they had. Most were created with wood, but others were made with stone, clay, glass, metal, or blue/green glazed faience (a type of ceramic).

Shabti on display in the Brooklyn Museum. Kaitlyn153/Wikipedia Commons

Sources

I want to thank these sources for providing me with most of the information in this post.

“Funerals and Ancient Egypt” from the Australian Museum
“Ancient Egyptian Burial” by Joshua J. Mark in the World History Encyclopedia
“Funerary Beliefs of the Ancient Egyptians” by Edward F. Wente from the Penn Museum
“Egyptian Mummies” from the Anthropology Outreach Office in Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History