Alteration to existing mortuary spaces and additional burials during the Old Kingdom through early Middle Kingdom (c.2686-c.1991 BCE)

This project examines the practice of incorporating additional burials into existing mortuary spaces during the Egyptian Old through Early Middle Kingdoms (c.2686-c.1991 BCE) to understand how the Egyptians engaged with physical mortuary spaces to create a sense of 'place.' Using an original, interdisciplinary framework, I will explore how and why additional burials were integrated into existing mortuary spaces, to redress and reframe prevailing colonial narratives regarding these alterations in modern academic discourse.

Alteration broadly refers to changes that are done to the original, physical burial space. For example, changes made to accommodate new burials, such as decorative/textual changes and the addition of burial shafts, are an example of alteration. Since Seidlmayer's (1990) chapter on additional burials, few studies have explored additional burial for the proposed period, and none use alterations to mortuary space as evidence of peoples' engagement with mortuary spaces.

Studies into additional burials in ancient Egypt only recently gained attention by scholars, like Grajetzki (2007), Miniaci (2018; 2019) and Maitland (2017). For example, Miniaci (2018) established a theoretical model using architecture and timespan of use to explain late Middle Kingdom additional burials. Though most studies of additional burial generally categorise them as 'intrusive' or 'secondary,' a close analysis

of Egyptian engagement with these spaces shows that additional burials were considered integral to the continuation of individual mortuary cults.

Through a qualitative case-study methodology, my project integrates non-indigenous techniques from graffiti and epigraphic studies (Plesch, 2017) and place-making (Tuan, 1979) with an indigenous framework of Egyptian concepts like 'place' and 'generation' (Frood, 2010). This methodology is used to examine socio-economic indicators including kinship, gender, social status, and wealth (Olabarria, 2020), as well as return and reuse (Quinn, 2015). My project answers the following key research questions are:

1. In what ways were mortuary spaces altered to accommodate additional burials? 2. How do these alterations differ from typical, standardised tomb inscriptions, decoration, and layout? 3. Are there patterns in the ways that mortuary spaces were altered to add additional burials?

4. How does the evidence for alteration in existing mortuary space reflect peoples' integration with their physical environment rather than usurpation?

5. Why is the idea of usurpation or intrusiveness still so prominent when discussing the presence of additional burials in mortuary spaces?

To answer these questions, I will closely examine archaeological and archival records to understand changes to mortuary spaces for new burials and how these have been treated by excavators. I will organise my notes to create a catalogue of examples of additional burials to qualitatively analyse my chosen case-studies.

Like Olabarria (2020), Maitland (2018), Nyord (2018; 2020), and Matic (2018), this project recontextualises earlier colonial interpretations of additional burials to provide new ways to understand these burials and break away from traditional, embedded narratives still held in Egyptology. Redressing colonial interpretations critically reframes additional burials in scholarship to show that these burials are not inherently bad as often described.