“Rites de Passage” Model and the Interpretation of Ancient Egyptian Ritual

Abstract

The study of Ancient Egyptian ritual practices in comparative perspective is a twofold endeavor. At one hand, a sequence of ritual actions and events is lost forever and principles of its reconstruction require careful methodological reflection. the main point is that available written and visual records were complementary to the ritual action as such and not aimed at its plain transcription. the other side of the problem is the need of description of Egyptian ritual in terms of modern ritual studies to make it a part of a broader discussion. However, applicability to Egyptian material of models derived mostly from modern ethnographic studies should be thoroughly considered. In particular, as a part of interpretational strategies embedded in modern textual culture, they can produce narrative explanations alien to ancient practices.
This article considers discussion of these topics and proposed approaches to the problem in modern Egyptology. At first, the basic structure of Egyptian funerary ritual and some aspects of temple ritual are presented, together with discussion on problems of its reconstruction. Secondly, usefulness for the interpretation of Egyptian data of rites de passage and ritual syntax models is considered.
While in studies such as that of H. Hays one model is preferred at the expense of another, this article is aimed at differentiating spheres of application of different models and their complementarity in producing of a deeper and ‘thicker’ description of Egyptian ritual. As a result, the author proposes a combination of semiotic perspective on Egyptian ritual developed by J. Assmann with dynamic interpretation of ritual practice in the frame of rites de passage model.