![]() ![]() No matter whether it was the tombs and memorials of kings or commoners, as soon as they were uncared for, their future grew uncertain. However, as time went by, families declined into poverty or became extinct, mortuary personnel deserted their duties, and funerary institutions were deprived of assets and estates. Just as the tomb owners’ children were meant to inherit offices and property, the offspring of mortuary priests and further personnel were expected to ensure forever the mortuary cult. ![]() In order to secure an everlasting mortuary cult, perpetual commemoration, and eternal life for the deceased, they endowed funerary institutions with land and income, appointed priests to perform rites, and hired personnel to administer the estates. The Egyptians spent considerable time and resources to erect their tombs and cult installations (Dodson & Ikram, 2008 Kanawati, 2001 Taylor, 2001). The present contribution aims at tracing the Egyptians’ thoughts and experiences and at illustrating the manifold fates of Egyptian mortuary monuments. As time went by, some of those monuments evolved into local attractions for visitors, some were piously restored, some were usurped or reused, and some were dismantled in order to process the building materials for new edifices. The tombs and memorial monuments then remained uncared for and were left to an uncertain future. Over time, even royal mortuary cults were ended and royal monuments abandoned. In most instances, however, families became incapable of affording the cult or were extinct after a few generations, personnel left the priesthood, or the funerary institutions were stripped of property and were discontinued. In order to achieve this bold aim, funerary institutions were endowed with land and income, the priests and personnel were bound strictly to observe their duties and principles, and future offspring were defined as legally constrained to take over the offices and obligations of their fathers. The Egyptian ideal was to establish an everlasting mortuary cult in order to ensure for the deceased infinite commemoration in this world and eternal life in the otherworld. ![]()
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