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Change and Continuity: Birth Practices from the Middle Kingdom through New Kingdom (Charlotte Rose)
Abstract: The popular religious practices of common ancient Egyptians focused strongly on birth and fertility, and, under the Egyptian concept of rebirth being like birth in this world, objects associated with birth and fertility occur in tomb contexts as well. Despite recent scholarly works, much of our knowledge in the Egyptological field is still focused on tombs of elite men. My dissertation, Change and Continuity: Ancient Egyptian birth practices from the Middle Kingdom through the New Kingdom, takes a chronological approach to birth and fertility practices in light of wider transformations in religious traditions. It investigates what changes during the Middle Kingdom (2000-1650 BCE) and Second Intermediate Period (1650-1550 BCE) into the New Kingdom (1550-1070 BCE) and why. This work sheds light on the development of non-elite and popular religious practices in ancient Egypt.