Concepts of Calves in Funerary Texts of Ancient Egypt

Abstract

The Ancient Egyptians showed special care and interest towards calves. They understood their importance in their agricultural society where the future of the herds depended largely on these young animals. From the religious point of view, calves had their symbolic significance. Some funerary texts refer to a religious aspect that was given to the calf. Spells of the Pyramid Texts and the Coffin Texts made reference to the calf with different connotations. In the Book of the Dead, the calf appears in the vignettes of two Chapters (1 and 109). The research aims at analyzing these texts in order to interpret the calf's funerary and religious significance.