2019 Volume 61 Issue 2 Pages 119-134
ABSTRACT The Second and Third Dynasties in Egypt were a transitional period towards the establishment of the canonical offering ritual in the latter half of the Fourth Dynasty. While this period is significant for the formation of a standardized ritual in the Old Kingdom, there are no studies that examined burial equipment from the viewpoint of the offering ritual during this period. This paper shows the actual conditions of the offering ritual during this formative period, through comparing the assemblage of the stone vessels with funerary relief slabs, which may have been a norm in practices related to funerary goods and offerings at that time.<p>
The results clarify that the contents of the cylindrical jars were more highly valued than those in the non-handled jars listed on the funerary relief slabs. Such hierarchical values among oils were also regulated in accordance with the social hierarchy of tomb owners.<p>
Furthermore, certain sets of stone and copper vessels were placed in high-status tombs at provincial sites during the late-Second and early-Third Dynasties. The formal sets found here mainly consist of cylindrical jars, bowls, plates, and offering tables, in addition to the occasional handled jars. These sets were often accompanied by a copper ewer. These sets are similar to the vessel assemblages of the ‘ritual lists’ inscribed on funerary relief slabs. It is possible that the offering sets were distributed to the provincial society’s regional elites by the royal government to promote the offering ritual that originated in the Memphite region.<p>
In this sense, the stone vessels functioned as political media for vertical and horizontal integration in the Early Dynastic society. The underlying specialization and increased stone vessel production were the tools for expressing inter- and intra-regional power relations.
