Archaeological Museum of Bologna

Museo Civico Archeologico
Via dell'Archiginnasio 2 - 40124 Bologna
Tel. 051.27.57.211

Direzione e Uffici
Via de' Musei 8 – 40124 Bologna
Tel. 051.27.57.211 - Fax 051.26.65.16
mca@comune.bologna.it

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Collections / Ricerca / Egyptian Collection: the grave goods

Introduction

Many of the monuments and objects that come to us from ancient Egypt have been found in tombs and were part of grave goods. The typology and the wealth of the grave goods vary a lot according to the epochs, while it is almost always constant the membership of the burial owners to the highest levels of Egyptian society. During the Old Kingdom this privilege was reserved by the sovereign only to the most faithful officials; in later times extends even to those who can afford the construction of a grave and the purchase of the objects to be placed inside.
The grave goods was constituted by some essential elements: the sarcophagus, destined to house and protect the mummified body, thus ensuring a possibility of eternal life even to the spiritual entities of the deceased (Ba, Ka, Akh), the four canopic jars for the viscera extracted from the body, a magical-religious text ("Coffin Texts" in the Middle Kingdom and the "Book of the Dead" from the New Kingdom) that would help the deceased soul to reach the afterlife, various protective amulets, and the ushabti, the statuettes that would have done field works in the afterlife instead of their own.
Other items were classified as accessory type and had to cheer for ever the life of the deceased: small chest, furniture, beds, fabrics and clothes, tools, pottery and more.

Exhibition rooms | Egyptian collection