著者

石原 安佐子

出版者

一般社団法人 日本オリエント学会

雑誌

オリエント (ISSN:00305219)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.53, no.1, pp.82-105, 2010-09-30 (Released:2014-03-31)

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For the Egyptians, who believed in rebirth after death, bread was indispensable to the living as well as the dead, dominating their entire lives and customs from the gods and the kings right down to the commoners. Records and the bread still exist, and bread appears on many of the lists of items excavated from the tombs. The research was focused on the bread of the list of offerings at the Medinet Habu which inherited the traditions of the Old Kingdom. Analysis of the numbers and kinds of bread on the lists showed that bread was important in ancient Egyptian society. There were monthly regular and annual feasts, and bread was indispensable at many of these including the top 7 that were considered to be the most important. It was also found that different kinds of bread existed, some of which were ofiered only at specific feasts. By analyzing the relationship between the seasonal composition of bread and the numbers of offerings, it was shown that numerous and important feasts were held when floods occurred. The ancient Egyptians seemed to have taken advantage of the annual floods on the Nile River.