I BURIED AN OLD MAN AND SIMILAR STATEMENTS IN ANCIENT EGYPTIAN AUTOBIOGRAPHIES: HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL COMMENTARY

Demidchik, Arkadiy

doi:10.31857/S032103910030410-4

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“I BURIED AN OLD MAN” AND SIMILAR STATEMENTS IN ANCIENT EGYPTIAN AUTOBIOGRAPHIES: HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL COMMENTARY

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References

“I BURIED AN OLD MAN” AND SIMILAR STATEMENTS IN ANCIENT EGYPTIAN AUTOBIOGRAPHIES: HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL COMMENTARY

PII

S032103910030410-4-1

DOI

10.31857/S032103910030410-4

Publication type

Article

Status

Approved

Authors

Arkadiy Demidchik

Occupation: Professor, Department of Ancient East
Affiliation: St. Petersburg University
Address: St. Petersburg, 11 Universitetskaya Emb.

Abstract

The verbal cliché “I buried him who had no son” appeared in the ancient Egyptian tomb autobiographies of the early and mid-Six Dynasty. Later, it was replaced by boasting about spending on the funerals of “old people”. The article examines the development of this topic and phraseology until the end of the Middle Kingdom. The Memphite official elite probably considered funeral arrangements to be an indispensable duty of the son-heir alone, but not obligatory for the rest, even very close relatives. Those “who had no son” were most often paupers. However, with the massive impoverishment of the population during the First Intermediate Period, even the families of the deceased who had “their sons” often did not have the means for a proper burial. Therefore, it has become a custom for "benefactors" to boast about the funerals of “old people” in general.

Keywords

Ancient Egypt, Old Kingdom, First Intermediate Period, Middle Kingdom, tomb autobiographies, funerals, the poor

Acknowledgment

The research was carried out at the expense of the grant from the Russian Science Foundation no. 23-28-00155 “The culture of mutual assistance in the civilization of Ancient Egypt (3rd – first half of the 2nd millennium BC)”, https://rscf.ru/project/23-28-00155/.

Received

26.03.2024

Number of characters

27100

GOST	Demidchik A. “I BURIED AN OLD MAN” AND SIMILAR STATEMENTS IN ANCIENT EGYPTIAN AUTOBIOGRAPHIES: HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL COMMENTARY // Vestnik drevnei istorii URL: http://ras.jes.su/vdi/s032103910030410-4-1-en (circulation date: 07.05.2024).
MLA	Demidchik, Arkadiy "“I BURIED AN OLD MAN” AND SIMILAR STATEMENTS IN ANCIENT EGYPTIAN AUTOBIOGRAPHIES: HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL COMMENTARY." Vestnik drevnei istorii DOI: 10.31857/S032103910030410-4
APA	Demidchik A. (). “I BURIED AN OLD MAN” AND SIMILAR STATEMENTS IN ANCIENT EGYPTIAN AUTOBIOGRAPHIES: HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL COMMENTARY. Vestnik drevnei istorii DOI: 10.31857/S032103910030410-4

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