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Death | BronzeAgeReligion | IronAgeReligion | Glossary | Bibliography | Activities At Beth Shean, fragments of fifty clay
sarcophagi were found in reused Early Bronze Age
tombs. These sarcophagi date from the last phase of
the Egyptian empire in Canaan (ca. 1250&emdash;1150
BCE). The lids of these sarcophagi depict faces and
upper torsos, in either a "naturalistic" or
"grotesque" style. Evidence from other sites suggests that these
were for the burial of adult males, occasionally
accompanied by a female and/or children. Whether
the face is meant to be a likeness of the deceased
is not clear. These sarcophagi promote a degree of
individuality in death, however, that contrasts
with the typical communal type of burial.
Similar sarcophagi are known from some lower
ranking burials in Egypt, where the practice of
burials in sarcophagi originated. Examples are also
found at several other sites in the lowlands of
Canaan, dating to the very end of the Egyptian
empire. The occupants of these sarcophagi
alternatively have been identified as native
Egyptian soldiers, Sea Peoples (like the
Philistines), or Canaanites in the service of
Egypt. Such distinctions may not have been easy to
make in the cosmopolitan world of Imperial
Egypt. |
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