Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures

Ancient Egyptian rituals for the mummification, burial, and commemoration of the dead as performed in the Ptolemaic and Roman Periods are attested by textual sources and visual arts, as well as by the evidence of mummified bodies. The underlying religious beliefs about death and the afterlife are basically the same as those of the Dynastic period. This article surveys these rituals, identifies their intended purpose, and discusses the classifications in use by Egyptologists today.