Die magischen Ziegel des Neuen Reiches – Material und immaterieller Wert einer Objektgruppe

This study addresses the question of how to determine the social status of the deceased through the analysis of the burial and associated grave goods. As estimations of the material value of grave goods are often inaccurate, the cultural value of objects - something not necessarily connected to material value - will be analysed instead. Here, the occurrence of the so-called magical bricks in the New Kingdom and Late Period is examined in relation to the social position of the deceased. Magical bricks are an ideal subject for such an investigation as they are made of unburnt Nile clay, a material that was widely available and accessible irrespective of personal wealth and importance. Furthermore, their cultural and ritual significance is well-known by the fact that they are closely connected to Spell 151 of the Book of the Dead. This study clearly demonstrates that even if the number of examples is quite small, all magical bricks so far discovered are connected to high-status burials. Not a single example is known from a lower-status burial. This is interpreted as evidence that the material value of this object group is not the reason for its limited occurrence; rather it is a result of limited access to the complex knowledge and rituals needed fortheir manufacture.