Depiction of Black Skeletal Figures on Walls of the Egyptian Tombs in the Graeco-roman Period

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Tourist Guiding Department, Faculty of Tourism and Hotels, Alexandria University

Abstract

The funeral Egyptian beliefs have clearly emerged in the tombs dating back to the Graeco-Roman era, indicating the strong desire of the ancient Egyptians to preserve their identity and traditions. The same funeral scenes of the Pharaonic period are depicted in the same tradition and attitude on the walls of tombs from the Graeco-Roman perid. Nevertheless, we find some of the finer details that emerged during this period. Among these details is a depiction of a meager body or a fully colored skeleton in black. These forms sometimes appear in funerary scenes accompanying the deceased, such as the scenes of cleansing or the trial scenes before Osiris, the god of the underworld. These black skeletons have appeared in some tombs, including the tombs of Touna al-Jabal in Minya Governorate, as well as the tombs of Salmoni in Sohag Governorate.
The portrayal of these structures in this form represents a clear question. There is no doubt that they were associated with the funerary concept in some way, and undoubtedly they were associated with the deceased, they accompany. Therefore, the research focuses on the study of the funerary concept of these representations. Is it related to the concept of the shadow of the deceased which had been represented in the form of a man painted in dark color on the walls of the Egyptian tombs in the Pharaonic period, or is it something new to the funerary scenes in the Egyptian tombs that date back to the Graeco-rman period as a result of foreign influences; and if this is true, what is this significance of this influence and what is its origins? And what does it signifies in the Egyptian funerary scenes?