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Democratization of the Afterlife UCLA UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology Title Democratization of the Afterlife Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/70g428wj Journal UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology, 1(1) Author Smith, Mark Publication Date 2009-06-04 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California DEMOCRATIZATION OF THE AFTERLIFE ديمقراطية الحياة ما بعد الموت Mark Smith EDITORS WILLEKE WENDRICH Editor-in-Chief University of California, Los Angeles JACCO DIELEMAN Editor Area Editor Religion University of California, Los Angeles ELIZABETH FROOD Editor University of Oxford JOHN BAINES Senior Editorial Consultant University of Oxford Short Citation: Smith, 2009, Democratization of the Afterlife. UEE. Full Citation: Smith, Mark, 2009, Democratization of the Afterlife. In Jacco Dieleman, Willeke Wendrich (eds.), UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology, Los Angeles. http://digital2.library.ucla.edu/viewItem.do?ark=21198/zz001nf62b 1147 Version 1, June 2009 http://digital2.library.ucla.edu/viewItem.do?ark=21198/zz001nf62b DEMOCRATIZATION OF THE AFTERLIFE ديمقراطية الحياة ما بعد الموت Mark Smith Demokratisierung des Jenseits Démocratisation de l’au-delà Egyptian religion is characterized by a remarkable degree of continuity, but changes did nevertheless occur in the religious sphere from time to time. One often-cited instance of such a change is the so-called democratization or demotization of the afterlife in the First Intermediate Period. This study examines the evidence for the development in question, concluding that no such change actually took place, albeit not for the reasons advanced by others who have arrived at the same conclusion previously. Based on the results obtained in the examination of this particular problem, a number of general points are then made about the methodology to be employed in the study of religious change in ancient Egypt as a whole. عرفت الديانة المصرية القديمة بكم من اﻹستمرارية بالرغم من حدوث بعض التغييرات بالدين من حين إلى آخر. ومن أحد ھذه التغييرات التي ُتذكر كثيراً ھي ديمقراطية الحياة ما بعد الموت التي ظھرت في عصر اﻹنتقال اﻷول. والمقصود بالديمقراطية ھنا ھو جعل الحياة ما بعد الموت في متناول يد الجميع. النقاش ھنا يفحص دﻻئل التطور المذكور أعﻻه مستنتجاً أنه لم تقع أي تغيرات من ھذا النوع ولكن ھذه النتيجة ليست بناءاً على الدﻻئل واﻷسباب التي توصل إليھا السابقون. يتم ھنا توضيح عدة نقاط عن الطرق التي تستخدم لدراسة التغيرات الدينية بمصر القديمة وھذا من خﻻل نتائج البحث عن ھذا السؤال تحديداً. tarting in the reign of Unas (2353 well as in those of four queens: Neith, Iput II, - 2323 BCE), the last ruler of the Wedjebetni, and Ankhesenpepi II. The first S Fifth Dynasty, the burial three of these were wives of Pepi II; the last chambers and other parts of the interiors of that of Pepi I (Allen 2005: 1 - 2). royal pyramids at Saqqara were inscribed with One particularly important category of spells spells intended to bring about the resurrection within this corpus is that of sakhu, or of the king after his death and allow him to “glorifications.” These are ritual utterances ascend to a new plane of existence in the sky, whose purpose is to transfigure the deceased while at the same time providing his into an akh, or glorified spirit, enabling them sustenance and other material needs. The to join the company of the gods in the collective term given to these spells by afterlife and share in the privileges that they Egyptologists is the Pyramid Texts. Not all enjoyed (Assmann 2001: 323). As a result of pyramids have the same number of them, nor the recitation of such spells in conjunction do they always occur in the same sequence. with the mummification rituals performed for Apart from the pyramid of Unas, they have his benefit, the deceased ruler was believed to also been discovered in those of kings Teti, acquire an Osirian aspect or form as well. Our Pepi I, Merenra, and Pepi II of the Sixth Dynasty, and Ibi of the Eighth Dynasty, as Democratization of the Afterlife, Smith, UEE 2009 1 sources refer to this as the “Osiris” of that development which he sees as a reaction to king (Smith 2006). the upheavals of the First World War and its aftermath, but in fact it is attested much At some point after the end of the Old earlier (e.g., Breasted 1912: 256 - 257, 272). Kingdom, glorifications and other spells intended to benefit the deceased in the Did such a process of democratization afterlife began to be inscribed inside the actually occur? There is considerable evidence coffins of non-royal individuals who had to indicate that it did not. First of all, it is a sufficient means to pay for them to be well-established fact that non-royal individuals decorated in this manner. (For what may be already had access to glorification spells and an isolated earlier instance, see below.) other texts for the afterlife during the Old Egyptologists refer to these as the Coffin Kingdom itself, prior to the First Intermediate Texts. A number of the spells in question Period. Remains of phrases similar to those were taken over from the Pyramid Texts, in found in some Coffin Text spells have been some instances with considerable editing or discovered on fragments of a shroud alteration, but there is a large amount of new belonging to a provincial governor named material as well. In many Coffin Text spells, Medunefer from Balat in the Dakhla Oasis. It non-royal individuals are referred to as the has been argued that these were originally Osiris of so-and-so, just as royalty had been inscribed on his coffin, which is now lost, and earlier (see, for example, Willems 1996: 83, were imprinted on the shroud as a result of 375), and they continue to be so designated in prolonged direct contact between its surface later texts for the afterlife, right up until the and that of the inner wall of the coffin in end of Egyptian history. damp conditions (Valloggia 1986: 74 - 78, pls. 62 - 63). The texts on Medunefer’s shroud are The significance of this development has generally dated to the Sixth Dynasty, although been much debated. Some believe that the Fischer (1997: 184, n. 43) has argued that they Coffin Texts reflect a change in religious ideas cannot be earlier than the Eighth. There is triggered by the decline of royal power and additional material of this type that has been centralized control in the First Intermediate attributed to the late Old Kingdom—for Period, and consequent loss of respect for instance, inscribed fragments from the burial both the person of the king and the institution chamber of a man called Meni at Dendara of kingship itself at that time. As a result, (Petrie 1900: 44 - 45, pl. 3); Berlin 7730, a privileges formerly restricted to royalty— block from a private tomb of unknown acquisition of an Osirian form or aspect and provenience (Königliche Museen zu Berlin integration into the hierarchy of the gods in 1913: 3, 266); and Gardiner Papyri II - IV the afterlife—were now usurped by non-royal (Mathieu 2004: 254, n. 10, with references to individuals who had gained access to copies of earlier literature), but here the dating is less the spells and rituals that were believed to certain, some preferring to assign these to the grant them. Whereas previously, these First Intermediate Period (e.g., Fischer 1968: individuals had experienced, at best, an 85 - 91; 1978: 47, n. 19; Hays 2004: 175 - 176, attenuated form of survival after death in n. 4; Willems 1988: 246, n. 24). Other possible comparison with the king’s, centered around examples of texts for the afterlife inscribed their tombs in the necropolis (thus, for for non-royal individuals during the Old instance, Allen 2006a: 2), now they enjoyed Kingdom include the so-called Herdsman’s Song the same benefits as their rulers. Proponents and Song of the Palanquin found in tombs of the of such a view employ terms like Fifth and Sixth Dynasties (Altenmüller 1984 - democratization or demotization to denote 1985: 15 - 30; Meyer 1990: 235 - 284). With this putative widening of participation in the these it is not the date that is uncertain, but society of the hereafter. Willems (2008: 131 - rather the nature and function of the texts 140) has attempted to trace the origin and themselves. spread of this idea in Egyptology, a Democratization of the Afterlife, Smith, UEE 2009 2 Although the direct evidence provided by was not solely a royal prerogative in the Old actual specimens of works of this nature is Kingdom. Moreover, the designation akh rather sparse, we have abundant indirect explicitly situates the dead person within a evidence, both representational and textual, group. An important part of being which demonstrates that non-royal individuals transfigured as a spirit is the perception of already had access to and enjoyed the benefits that status by others, chiefly the deities into of glorifications and similar ritual utterances in whose company the deceased seeks to be the Old Kingdom. A scene in the Sixth accepted. Only through their reaction is it Dynasty tomb of Kagemni at Saqqara, for reified. As Assmann (2001: 453 - 454) aptly instance, depicts a lector priest reading from a puts it, paraphrasing Ralph Waldo Emerson, papyrus roll for his benefit. The labels in front transfiguration “is in the eye of the beholder.” of and behind this figure inform us that he is Thus, just like their kings, non-royal “reciting numerous glorifications” (Assmann individuals during the Old Kingdom were 2002: 13 - 15; cf. Badawy 1981). Similar supposed to enjoy the benefits of integration representations with labels alluding to the into the hierarchy of the gods in the afterlife.
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