WOODEN COFFINS INSIDE STONE SARCOPHAGI: A COMMON PRACTICE OR AN EXCEPTION IN THE OLD KINGDOM?

Burial containers (including wooden coffins and stone sarcophagi) were one of the most important aspects of burials in ancient Egypt, but especially in the case of the Old Kingdom (ca. 2592 – 2120 BCE) they have not been properly researched. In particular, what remains unclear is the number of burial containers used in one burial. There are three possibilities regarding this particular issue. The first suggests that there was a wooden coffin inside each sarcophagus, the second claims that when there was a stone sarcophagus, no wooden coffin was needed, and the third envisages a variety of options. Archaeological evidence attests stone sarcophagi without wooden coffins as well as wooden coffins inside stone sarcophagi in addition to other possibilities. This brief case study draws on material from the residential, Memphite necropolis (mainly Abusir, but also from Saqqara and Giza) and demonstrates that there was considerable variation and that we do not properly understand the reasons behind the different choices in the terms of funerals and burials.