Textile archaeology and burial practices in the Nile valley

Two examples from Qubbet el-Hawa (Egypt) and Kerma (Sudan), c. 1500-1000 BCE

Talk by Associate Professor Elsa Yvanez, Saxo Institute.

Archaeology in the Nile valley has long been distinguished by the prominence of funerary contexts in the preserved record and in the historiography – especially by the discovery and study of Egyptian mummies. Mummies are first and foremost a dead person, but human remains are not the only components: they are preserved and held together with textiles. Even when artificial mummification was not used, wrappings of organic material (animal skins, matting and/or textiles) played a crucial role in the funerary sequence of events. This lecture will present two cases of funerary wrappings that exemplify different funerary traditions in ancient Nubia, at a time of heightened contacts between Egyptian and Kushite populations in this border region. The first case will illustrate the use of textiles in the mummification of individuals buried at Qubbet el-Hawa, the elite necropolis associated with the town of Elephantine, in modern Aswan (Egypt). The second one concerns sacrificed individuals found in the royal tumulus K.X, in the capital of the Kushite kingdom of Kerma (Sudan). From the first layers of wrappings laid on the skin to the outer “shrouds”, we can follow the different stages of the bodies’ preparation and funerary rites, as well as identify different approaches to death.

Contact person: Seraina Nett.

ToRS Ancient Studies lecture series

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