BURIAL PRACTICES AND RITUAL LANDSCAPES AT PTOLEMAIC ABYDOS: The 2011 and 2012 Seasons of the Abydos Middle Cemetery Project

Abstract

Abydos, one of the oldest mortuary and ritual sites in Egypt, is an important case study for studying social changes in Egyptian society during the Late and Ptolemaic periods. The 2011–12 seasons of the University of Michigan's Abydos Middle Cemetery project focused on material remains of these periods, excavating an elite Ptolemaic-period tomb and a range of subsidiary architecture near the traditional processional route. Social status was communicated through association with that route. Soon after the construction of this complex, there appears to have been a shift both in preferred areas for burial and the ritual landscape, as the traditional processional route was blocked by graves. This marked a distinct shift in the ritual landscape and in how people defined themselves in relation to it.