Breaking the dšr.t Vessels

An Ancient Egyptian Fragmentation Rite

Elena Luise Hertel

• Publisher: Archaeopress Access Archaeology
• Year: 2023
• eBook ISBN: 9781803275888
• Topic: Storia
• Subtopic: Archeologia

In ancient Egyptian thought, the funerary procedure played a key role in the transition to the afterlife. As early as the Old Kingdom ( c. 2700-2200 BCE), the Pyramid Texts and representations and inscriptions in private tombs show a highly developed funerary ritual with a large number of individual rites intended to ensure a safe transition to the realm of the dead and a pleasant afterlife for the deceased. One of these is the so-called 'breaking the dšr.t-vessels' (Egyptian s? dšr.wt ), a rite that involved the intentional damaging of a certain type of ceramic vessel. The aim of this study is to gain a better understanding of the rite through a re-evaluation of the primary sources and previous research and to provide the first study devoted entirely to the rite. While the rite of 'breaking the dšr.t -vessels' has been associated with several different archaeological contexts and primary sources, this monograph argues that a careful distinction needs to be made between the evidence identified as such. This study aims to demonstrate that there is a significant discrepancy between textual, iconographic, and archaeological sources which calls into question the identification of a large number of sources as s? dšr.wt contexts. A number of different ritual and non-ritual practices in ancient Egypt involve the deliberate fragmentation of pottery, each of which should be addressed in context.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Information
• Contents
• List of Figures
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• The BdV in Egyptological Literature
• The Concept of Intentional Damaging of Objects: Fragmentation Theory
• The dšr.wt – Appearance, Use, and Purpose
• Contextualising the BdV
• Summary and Conclusion
• Appendix
• Catalogue
• Bibliography and Abbreviations