Breaking the Dsr.T Vessels: An Ancient Egyptian Fragmentation Rite

By Elena Luise Hertel

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 dsr.t-vessels' (Egyptian sd dsr.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 dsr.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 sd dsr.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.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1803275871
• ISBN13: 9781803275871
• Release Date: December 2023
• Publisher: Archaeopress Publishing
• Length: 102 Pages
• Weight: 2.22 lbs.