Society and Death in Ancient Egypt
Mortuary Landscapes of the Middle Kingdom

Janet Richards considers social stratification in Middle Kingdom Egypt.

Janet Richards (Author)

9780521840330, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 7 March 2005

262 pages
25.5 x 19.8 x 2.8 cm, 0.818 kg

Review of the hardback: '… well-written and informative …' Ancient Egypt

In Society and Death in Ancient Egypt, Janet Richards considers social stratification in Middle Kingdom Egypt, taking as the point of departure the assumption that a 'middle class' arose during this period. By focusing on the entire range of mortuary behavior, rather than on elite remains, she shows how social and political processes can be reconstructed. Richards demonstrates that the roots of the middle class can be traced to the later Old Kingdom and First Intermediate Period. Combining information from excavations, ancient Egyptian texts, and decorative reliefs and statuary, the book weaves together a wide variety of sources that aid us in understanding how Middle Kingdom Egyptians thought about society and death and how their practices and landscapes relating to death reveal information about the living society.

Part I. The Study of Ancient Social Systems: 1. Social differentiation and the notion of 'class'
2. Egyptian society through text and image
3. Society, settlement, and votive behavior
Part II. Society and Death in Egypt: 4. People, death and the 'tomb problem' in Egypt
5. Mortuary landscapes in the Middle Kingdom
6. Burial at the center: Haraga and Riqqa
7. Cemeteries past, present, and provincial: Abydos
Conclusion: The Egyptian Nile Valley in the Middle Kingdom: History, politics, and society.

Subject Areas: Social & cultural anthropology, ethnography [JHMC], Sociology: death & dying [JHBZ], Egyptian archaeology / Egyptology [HDDG]