How far back do ancient Egyptian burial practices go?

Ancient Egyptian burial practices date to at least the Predynastic Period, c. 6000 to c. 3150 BCE.

Why did the ancient Egyptians include so many grave goods in tombs?

Ancient Egyptians understood death as simply a transition from one state of being to another and the soul remaining intact after death. The soul would need the same kinds of items they had when they were on earth, and so grave goods were placed in the tombs.

What was the purpose of the shabti doll in Egyptian tombs?

The shabti doll was a magical figure who would come to life once one had passed over into the next world and would take one's place on work details for the god Osiris. Each shabti could only perform this task once, however, and so the more dolls one had the more time off one could expect in the afterlife.

Were animals mummified the same way as humans in ancient Egypt?

People's pets were given the same respectful treatment after death as their owners and were mummified and even provided with coffins and monuments.

A Gallery of Ancient Egyptian Tombs, Coffins, and Grave Goods (Image Gallery)

Image Gallery

by Joshua J. Mark
published on 24 September 2024

Ancient Egyptian burial practices were observed as early as the Predynastic Period in Egypt (c. 6000 to c. 3150 BCE) and continued through the Ptolemaic Dynasty (323-30 BCE), serving to not only provide the living with closure in saying goodbye to the departed but sending the soul on to the afterlife with all they would need there.

Grave goods – cherished personal items as well as daily necessities such as footwear, clothing, food and drink – were entombed with the body of the deceased so that they would have them at hand when they reached the other side. The Egyptian afterlife of the Field of Reeds (Aaru) was understood as a mirror image of life on earth, and one would naturally require the same kinds of things one had used in one's daily life.

Images of the deceased on coffins, sarcophagi, tomb walls, and in statuary allowed the soul to recognize itself once it had left the body, and works such as the Coffin Texts and the Egyptian Book of the Dead provided instruction on how to proceed through the next world on one's way to paradise. Once arrived, the soul could then draw on the grave goods of one's tomb just as one had in one;s home while on earth.

Ancient Egyptians were expected to surrender a portion of their time each year to help with public works, and in the afterlife, this same paradigm held, only now one would be working for Osiris, the Lord of the Dead. In life, one could ask another, or pay them, to take one's place in a work detail, but in death, this was not thought possible. Shabti dolls, found in many Egyptian tombs, were provided to answer for the soul when called to work. One's shabti would take on one's responsibilities, and the soul could continue enjoying its leisure as it pleased, but each shabti could only do this once. The more shabti dolls one had, therefore, the more 'time off' one could count on in the afterlife, which is why these figures are so numerous in the tombs of those who could afford them, although shabti have been found even in modest tombs and graves.

The following gallery presents images of some of these grave goods, dolls, tombs, images of the deceased, and visions of the afterlife.

Egyptian God Osiris

by A.K.
published on 13 July 2012

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Egyptian God Osiris — View Full-Size Image

Small statue of Osiris.
Staatliches Museum Ägyptischer Kunst (State Museum of Egyptian Art), Munich.

Images in this Gallery

Questions & Answers

How far back do ancient Egyptian burial practices go?: Ancient Egyptian burial practices date to at least the Predynastic Period, c. 6000 to c. 3150 BCE.
Why did the ancient Egyptians include so many grave goods in tombs?: Ancient Egyptians understood death as simply a transition from one state of being to another and the soul remaining intact after death. The soul would need the same kinds of items they had when they were on earth, and so grave goods were placed in the tombs.
What was the purpose of the shabti doll in Egyptian tombs?: The shabti doll was a magical figure who would come to life once one had passed over into the next world and would take one's place on work details for the god Osiris. Each shabti could only perform this task once, however, and so the more dolls one had the more time off one could expect in the afterlife.
Were animals mummified the same way as humans in ancient Egypt?: People's pets were given the same respectful treatment after death as their owners and were mummified and even provided with coffins and monuments.

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