Pages: 73-82

This paper provides an analysis of burials left by the Fayoum population and dated to the Graeco-Roman period. Based on the results of excavations at Deir el-Banat necropolis, the authors make preliminary conclusions on typology of burials in that time. The graves of the Ptolemaic period have one or two side-niches along the long sides of the entrance pit; the niches are oriented along the east-west axis. The bodies were mummified, usually with special oils and resins, and laid into wooden anthropomorphic coffins, or rectangular chests made of reed. The burials of Roman period were made in simple graves, oval in plan and oriented along the east-west axis. The mummified bodies were laid directly in graves on a layer of pure sand.
According to the results of craniological studies, this population belonged to the Mediterranean variant of the Caucasoid; it had no dramatic changes within that period. The authors also provide a description of osteology and pathologies.

Keywords: Egypt, Fayoum, Graeco-Roman period, funerary rite, craniology, osteology

Information about authors:

Galina Belova (Moscow, Russian Federation). Doctor of Historical Sciences. Center for Egyptological Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Lenin Ave., 29/8, Moscow, 119071, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
Sergey Vasilyev (Moscow, Russian Federation). Doctor of Historical Sciences. Center for Egyptological Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Lenin Ave., 29/8, Moscow, 119071, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
Svetlana Borutskaya (Moscow, Russian Federation). Candidate of Biological Sciences. M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University. Lomonosov Ave., 27-4, Moscow, 119991, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
Sergey Ivanov (Moscow, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Center for Egyptological Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Lenin Ave., 29/8, Moscow, 119071, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]