The funeral of a pharaoh was an elaborate affair. After his body had been embalmed and placed in a coffin, it was placed on a sled and transported to the pyramid site.
After the necessary ceremonies had been performed, the coffin was placed inside a sarcophagus and the tomb sealed – hopefully for eternity, although this sadly was not always the case.
The ancient Egyptians believed that the pharaohs’ soul or ka resided within his mummy and so would continue to “live” in the afterlife. This meant that he would require many of the everyday objects he had used in his earth bound life and these were also placed in the tomb.
The tomb of Tutankhamen, discovered by Howard Carter in 1922, is famous because it is the only tomb from Egypt’s New Kingdom that has been found substantially intact. This tomb has provided much of the information we have on the contents of pharaoh’s burial chambers.
The contents of King Tut’s tomb included gold covered furniture and six dismantled chariots, thrones, weapons, clothing, jars of precious oils, food and wine – anything that he would require in the afterlife. It took Howard Carter almost 10 years to catalogue all the items he found in the tomb.
Ushabties
The ancient Egyptians believed that the gods might call upon them to work, just as the king had done. To make certain that nothing like everyday chores would spoil their peaceful Afterlife, the Egyptians provided an adequate supply of servants. Little figurines called ushabtis were placed in their tombs. These little workers had to answer every time they were called upon to perform a chore, and since the Egyptian word for ‘answer’ is usheb, they were called ushabtis.
Tomb stelae (tombstones)
Apart from the coffin, another important feature was the stela or tombstone. The name and titles of the deceased were written on the stela. Nobody had access to the tomb of the dead person; so people could visit a stela, much like we would go to a cemetery and visit the grave of a loved one today. The relatives of the dead Egyptians brought offerings to the stela on certain days.