Wooden tomb models were deposited as grave goods in the tombs and burial shafts throughout early Egyptian History, most notably in the Middle Kingdom of Egypt. These models offer a glimpse into the beliefs and daily life of ancient Egyptians, particularly their focus on the afterlife and the provision of sustenance for the deceased.
Wooden model of a granary
Types of Ancient Egyptian Models
They included a wide variety of wooden figurines and scenes, such as:
- Boats, either fishing or funerary barques
- Granaries
- Baking and brewing scenes
- Butchery scenes
These served as ways to preserve the action depicted for eternity in honor of the deceased.
Pottery and ivory models from the Predynastic and Early Dynastic periods are rare, but have been found to include similar items and scenes to the later models such as granaries. There are some boats of the predynastic period, which are thought to have been modeled after boats used in swamps. Stone miniature containers were developed at this time and use for ritual purposes with an introduction of copper containers in the 6th Dynasty however, pottery remained popular.
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Evolution of Tomb Models
These tomb models don’t just appear suddenly from out of nowhere, of course, they evolve from earlier use of models in tombs. This appears to begin around the same time as the unification of Egypt, so some 1000 years before the Middle Kingdom. During the late Predynastic Period and the Early Dynastic Period there are some cases of replacement of large scale or expensive tomb goods with models.
For instance some burials had full scale boats, but others had model ones. And one burial even had a full scale granary but several had model ones. During the Old Kingdom this practice was extended to smaller objects - for instance they might have model storage vessels or model tools.
Model Cattle stable from the tomb of Meketre
The Flourishing of Models in the Middle Kingdom
Most funerary models that survive today are from the Middle Kingdom, where not only the number of models but the variety of the models increased. In contrast to the Old Kingdom servant statues these models are made of painted wood - which makes them much more perishable, even in the typically dry climate of Upper Egypt, so we’re lucky as many have survived as have!
A typical elite burial of the period includes a set of these models, but the number and choice of scenes varies between tombs - presumably determined by the status of the deceased, the region and the exact time period. Other than boats the most common models are scenes of butchery, granaries, scenes of baking, scenes of brewing, and pairs of female servants carrying food offerings.
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As you can see this covers the first 3 or 4 of the standard offerings mentioned in the Offering Formula - bread, beer, ox and fowl (only present if that’s what the servants are carrying).
Tomb models of this type (other than boats) have this period where they flourish, but then they rather abruptly die out in the reign of Senwosret III. His reign, as part of the 12th Dynasty, marks an inflection point in the history of Egyptian culture.
Although we tend to think (primarily because of the influence of the 3rd Century BCE historian Manetho) of the Middle Kingdom as a single unit, subdivided into 3 dynasties, there’s also an argument to be made that it should be divided into two at the reign of Senwosret III. The early Middle Kingdom is closer to the First Intermediate Period in culture than to the later Middle Kingdom (and things like burial customs don’t seem to change when Montuhotep II reunites the country).
The Significance of Models
The key to understanding this are the Ancient Egyptian beliefs about the reality of symbols in a magical sense - the written or spoken name of thing, a painting or carving of a thing, or a model of a thing are magically the same as the thing itself.
So if you have written on your tomb walls your request for bread and beer, then in the afterlife you will magically have bread and beer. If you have carved scenes with loaves of bread and jars of beer, then you will magically have bread and beer in your afterlife. So these models are in a magical sense the real things they represent.
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Models are a cheaper and more efficient way of taking it with you when you went. In much earlier times kings were buried with the actual objects - including servants in some cases - but this is expensive in terms of resources (even leaving aside the ethics of killing your bread bakers!!), and in terms of the space required inside the tomb complex.
Insights into Ancient Egyptian Life
The models are, of course, fascinating to anyone who’s interested in learning about Ancient Egyptian culture. They give us the obvious information about how bread was made, beer was brewed and so on. And also things like how Egyptian buildings were laid out, even the very fact they kept their cattle in stables!
As well as these insights into material culture they also reinforce other evidence about what the Egyptians saw as the key necessities of life (like their emphasis on food security in the afterlife), and even give us information as to how their art style worked by letting us compare two dimensional and three dimensional representations of the same activities.
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Examples of Models and Their Significance
Several models found in the tomb of Meketre provide valuable insights into various aspects of Egyptian life:
- Model of a Funerary Boat: Depicts a religious ceremony where a statue of the deceased would be taken on a boat to Abydos to the temple of Osiris. Another boat from the tomb depicts a fishing scene.
- Model of a Granary: Contains several workers counting the grain as others pour grain into the storage areas. The accountants write on scrolls of papyrus and wooden writing boards.
- Model Cattle Stable: This model depicts the practice of fattening up cattle before slaughter.
- Model of Nubian Archers: These wooden model of 40 Nubian archers are grouped together on the same pedestal and arranged in 10 rows of four. Each archer is holding in one hand a bow and in the other a bunch of arrows.
Here is a table summarizing the types of models and their significance:
| Model Type | Description | Significance |
|---|---|---|
| Boats | Models of sailing and funeral boats | Religious ceremonies, transportation to the afterlife |
| Granaries | Workers counting and storing grain | Ensuring food supply in the afterlife |
| Baking and Brewing Scenes | Depictions of food and beer production | Providing essential sustenance in the afterlife |
| Butchery Scenes | Scenes of slaughtering animals | Offering meat to the deceased in the afterlife |
| Nubian Archers | Model of Nubian archers | Providing army for deceased in the afterlife |
Model of a procession of offering bearers
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