Cultural Expression in the Old Kingdom Elite Tomb (Archaeopress Egyptology): 1

Cultural Expression in the Old Kingdom Elite Tomb considers the material and immaterial culture left behind by the ancient Egyptian elite in their tombs starting some 5000 years ago.The book intends to understand this culture reflecting the ‘intention’ of the ancient Egyptians.All these ‘intentions’ are now inaccessible to us, a paradox indeed. The author starts by examining the ways in which other Egyptologists have understood tomb culture over the past century.Two main clusters of thought dominate the history of this topic, the literal and/or the symbolic meaning.The literal is a popular approach for the modern world; the symbolic encompasses the ancient Egyptians’ ideas about the meaning of life in this and the next world, and metaphysical perfection.The author uses a third mid-way course between the literal and the symbolic; i.e. an attempt to study the evidence in its reality and to search for common, universal factors which may be present and which may aid understanding. The resu