Mummfication Museum lecture - New Kingdom Beds

Luxor News Blog (Jane Luxor)

So many thanks to Liz Cummings who gave the lecture tonight and gave me her notes and even some pictures so I could just relax and enjoy the lecture. Much appreciated Liz

The Bed in New Kingdom Egyptian Art - Elizabeth Cummings

Tonight I would like to share with you my current research for my dissertation on beds in new kingdom egyptian art. This research is in its early stages but I have already found many insightful images which tell us about the Egyptians concepts of sex, sleep, and death. Today, we view our beds with respect to these concepts as well, even using the word “bed” to indicate an action related to sex, sleep, or death such as (He is very tired—he needs to go to bed or two people going to bed together to indicate sexual activity, and even a person’s deathbed

However, our cultures comprehend these concepts within very different conceptual frameworks, even though both perceive the bed as a locus for transitional states. In this study, I propose to examine both actual beds and images of beds in order to explore in depth the significance of the represented bed. I will focus my study on the the New Kingdom (1540-1070 B.C.). due to its wealth of different resources. Currently, I’m collecting relevant material from temples, tombs, and settlement sites, which will divide into two parts: actual beds, and two- and three-dimensional images of beds. I also plan to collect New Kingdom textual references to beds, since these will provide another approach to comprehending the significance of beds in Egyptian thought.