Homepage Timeline Maps A-Z index Learning

Funerary Cones

Cones made in clay. They were placed over the entrance of the tomb chapels. The earliest examples date to the Eleventh Dynasty, but are uninscribed. Some of them are 53 cm long; they decrease in size in the New Kingdom (about 1550-1069 BC). The examples of the New Kingdom are inscribed with title and name of the tomb owner, sometimes with short prayers to gods. Originally they were painted. Function and meaning are unclear. Of about 400 recorded sets of cones, for only about 80 are tombs known: this may indicate how many tombs are still missing or have been totally destroyed. Funerary cones are almost exclusively restricted to the Theban area.

reconstruction of a tomb facade with funerary cones
a funerary cone
funerary cones

A list of important funerary cones in the Petrie Museum


 

Copyright © 2002 University College London. All rights reserved.