This document proposes a theoretical model to categorize items found in Ancient Egyptian funerary contexts based on their intended purpose or motive for inclusion. The model includes three categories: symbolic association, practical function, and comfort for the deceased. The model is tested on four common funerary items - the headrest, writing equipment, the heart scarab, and coffins. The analysis finds that while items often served more than one purpose, viewing them through the lens of this theoretical model reveals how their function changed between daily life and the afterlife. There is potential for archaeologists to use this model to systematically group and compare funerary assemblages.

1. Abstract: Symbolic, Practical or Comfortable? Creating a Theoretical Model to Group the Funerary
Equipment of the Ancient Egyptian Dead
KEY WORDS
Funerary Egyptian Symbolic Practical Remembrance
The items included within Ancient Egyptian funerary contexts are varied, though we often assume
the reasons for depositing items are guided by the same underlying principles. This led to the
creation of the research question; can objects be grouped into categories based on why they were
included? This model, formulated in response, includes three different motives for including items
in a funerary context. This has been created using their own sources as well as modern
interpretations. The categories created were: symbolic association, practical function and comfort
for the deceased. Once established the model was testing by being applied to four items, which
frequently occur in a funerary context. These were: the headrest, writing equipment, the heart
scarab and coffins. In the case of writing equipment, we see a change from practical function to
symbolic as part of the transitional phase of death. As expected, all items existed within more than
one theoretical group, though to different degrees. Using the theoretical lens, this model showed
that the function of items changed inside and outside the funerary context. There is future potential
for archaeologists to apply this model to funerary contexts to group items for comparison based on
their motive for inclusion.