Understanding Death: A Journey between Worlds
Within a general cultural framework rooted in long-standing traditions, ancient Egyptians continually elaborated their concept of the afterlife and adjusted their funerary practices accordingly. The Middle Kingdom was a transformative phase in the Egyptian understanding of the transition between this life and the next.
Early in the period, Egyptians focused on providing eternal sustenance for the deceased, for example, by including wood models of agricultural activities in the burial chamber. From the Twelfth Dynasty onward, while offerings remained essential, there was added emphasis on the transfiguration and rebirth of the dead. A set of liturgies, known as Coffin Texts, secured the deceased's transformation into an eternal being. New funerary objects were introduced, including shabtis, a type of figurine, and heart scarabs, both of which flourished in later periods. Previously, assimilation with Osiris, the god of resurrection, seems to have been a prerogative of the king and his family. During the Middle Kingdom, nonroyal individuals adopted some of the royal funerary rituals and even added certain kingly iconography and regalia to their burial goods, all in the hope of joining with Osiris just as the king did.
