Relating Middle Kingdom Pottery Vessels to Funerary Rituals

Abstract

Recent scholarly literature shows an increasing awareness of the necessity to synthesize multiple approaches when analysing mortuary data. An integrated approach is also followed in the present study, which examines two pottery types that are characteristic for the First Intermediate Period and early Middle Kingdom on the one hand, and for the more advanced Middle Kingdom on the other. By integrating information from the objects themselves and information derived from representations and texts, an attempt is made to relate the pottery vessels to rituals carried out before, at, or after the funeral. The first pottery type evaluated in the present article is a narrow pointed jar with funnel-shaped neck, mainly popular in the northern part of Egypt during the First Intermediate Period. An analysis of the fabric of examples from the Royal Museums of Art and History in Brussels combined with pictorial evidence on object friezes of Middle Kingdom coffins enables us to relate the vessel to purification rituals carried out in the ibw, the Purification Tent. The second type of vessel discussed here is a wide-mouthed jar in Marl C, often labelled as a 'zir' and occurring at a number of sites during the Middle Kingdom. By evaluating shape and fabric of the vessels, ink labels, and iconographic information on the containers we suggest that this type of vessel was used in ritual purifications. It is probably to be identified with the snw-vase, although vessels with other shapes are also sometimes labelled snw.