Some notes on the distribution of goods in egyptian private mortuary cults: three cases studies

Abstract

The mortuary provisions of private tomb owners in the Old Kingdom constitute fundamental evidence for the understanding of the operation of the private mortuary cult. The clauses present in these texts provide information about a variety of topics concerning the development of the cult and the use of the properties allotted to sustaining it. However, there are some aspects about which not much information is given. One of these facets is the way in which the goods allocated for the mortuary cult were distributed among the cultic performers. In this paper I intend to contribute to clarifying this aspect by analysing three case studies that are particularly revealing about this matter.

Keywords

• egyptology
• ancient scripts
• clergy
• legal history
• ancient religions