A classification of ‘sacred’ caches in ancient Egypt

Guillaume Charloux (1, 2) , Mona Ali Abady Mahmoud

1 OM-MS - Équipe Mondes sémitiques
2 OM - ORIENT ET MÉDITERRANÉE : Textes, Archéologie, Histoire

Although particularly spectacular, the caches of sacred artefacts discovered in Egyptian religious complexes, often discussed in the literature, have rarely been interrogated from a purely archaeological point of view. In this paper, we have tried to consider the context of discovery of the caches as a priority. Through this examination, we propose to identify among caches of sacred artefacts those that can really be characterised as ‘sacred’ (that is to say, having received a liturgical burial at the hands of the temple clergy), by establishing a classification according to common and objective criteria.

Mots clés: Egypte antique; Egyptian Archaeology; Statue -- remploi; Statue égyptienne; Statue religieuse; Karnak Temple

Mots clés: Egyptian Art and Archaeology; Favissa; Dépôt archéologique

Domaines: Archéologie et Préhistoire

Guillaume Charloux, Mona Ali Abady Mahmoud. A classification of ‘sacred’ caches in ancient Egypt. Aurélia Masson. Statues in Context. Production, Meaning and (Re)uses, Peeters, pp.183-196, 2019, 978-90-429-3807-6. ⟨halshs-02479292⟩