Egypt in Britain: material vocabularies of bereavement.

Summary

The presence of Egyptianizing designs in nineteenth century cemeteries can be attributed at least in part to the global reach of British politico-economic interest and the appropriation of ancient cultures that this facilitated. However, the presence of these forms within a heterogeneous monumental landscape that also included designs taken from an imagined national past and from Classical architecture encourages us to consider not only how Egyptianizing forms were encountered and developed by designers, but how these alternatives were selected by those for whom they were central elements to, and companions during, a process of grieving that was particularised by intersecting axes of religious, political and class identity. This paper presents a discussion of data collected from cemeteries and censuses as part of an ongoing PhD project which explores the ways in which material vocabularies of bereavement intersect social and religious distinctions in the practice and experience of commemoration.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• The Final Cut: Death and Burial Through the Ages   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2013

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Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

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PaperId(s): 380