An Undertakers' Archive from the Kynopolite Nome (P. Kynopolites)

This book provides a comprehensive edition of five well-preserved Greek papyri from an archive of undertakers ( nekrotaphoi ) from the late Ptolemaic Kynopolite nome, four of which unpublished. The texts contain a wealth of information on mummification practices and funerary taxation in this era, in particular concerning the use of the embalming products kedria (Egyptian sfy ) and pharmakon (Egyptian p h r.t ), the traditional seventy-day funerary period, and a mummification procedure in which bodies are temporarily buried in the sand. All this and more is discussed in an extensive commentary combining Greek and Egyptian evidence.