Dissertation Defense Announcement

College of Communication and Fine Arts annonunces the Final Dissertation Defense of

Bethany Jensen

for the Degree of Master of Arts

March 28, 2022 at 3:00 PM in the Art and Communication Building Room 315

Advisor: Dr. Lorelei H. Corcoran

Anubis and the Embalming Scene: Tradition and Innovation in a New Kingdom Funerary Scene at Kom el-Shoqafa    

ABSTRACT: "Focusing on the scene of Anubis embalming the mummy in the main tomb at Kom el-Shoqafa in Alexandria, Egypt, this thesis demonstrates how it is both a continuation of the funerary motif that first appears in Dynasty 18 of the New Kingdom (ca. 1425 BCE) and an innovative version unique to the early Roman Period (first to second centuries CE). Background information regarding Alexandria, the site of Kom el-Shoqafa and a description of the tomb are provided. This is followed by a history of the scene, its origins in Spell 151 of the Book of the Dead, and a comparison of the scene to those in other tombs and contexts (papyri, coffins, etc.) which show adherence to tradition while simultaneously allowing for modification. The thesis argues that the Alexandrian scene preserves earlier iconography and departs from it in its conflation of the embalming scene with a funerary scene of purification."