[[File:Cones-IMG 6354.JPG|thumb|Several cones, [[New Kingdom of Egypt|New Kingdom]]]] [[File:Schiaparelli's excavations - Gebelein, Northern hill, Painted tomb of Iti and Neferu, 1911, photo 3 of 82 - Archivio fotografico Museo Egizio, Turin B00289.jpg|thumb|Three funerary cones still embedded in the wall where they were inserted. [[Tomb of Iti and Neferu]], between 2118 and 1980 [[Ante Christum Natum|BC]] ([[First Intermediate Period of Egypt]]), [[Gebelein]]. [[Ernesto Schiaparelli|Schiaparelli]] excavations, 1911.]]
'''Funerary cones''' were small [[cone]]s made from [[clay]] that were used in [[ancient Egypt]], almost exclusively in the [[Theban Necropolis]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Zenihiro |first1=Kento |title=Geographical distribution |url=http://www.funerarycones.com/Geographical_distribution/Geographical_distribution.html |website=The World of Funerary Cones |access-date=27 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303173341/http://www.funerarycones.com/Geographical_distribution/Geographical_distribution.html |archive-date=3 March 2016}}</ref> The items were placed over the entrance of the [[Ancient_Egyptian_funerary_practices#Tombs|chapel of a tomb]]. Early examples have been found from the [[Eleventh dynasty of Egypt|Eleventh Dynasty]]. However, they are generally undecorated. During the [[New Kingdom of Egypt|New Kingdom]], the cones were smaller in size and inscribed in [[Egyptian hieroglyphs|hieroglyphs]] with the title and name of the tomb owner, often with a short prayer.<ref>{{cite web |vauthors=Grajetzki W, Quirke S, etal |author-link1=Wolfram Grajetzki |author-link2=Stephen Quirke|title=Funerary cones |url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt//thebes/tombs/conesinfo.html |website=Digital Egypt for Universities |publisher=[[University College London]] |access-date=27 September 2023}}</ref> The exact purpose of the cones is unknown, but hypotheses exist that they variously served as passports, architectural features, and symbolic offerings, among others.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/thebes/tombs/cones.html|title=Funerary Cones of the 18th Dynasty (from Thebes)|accessdate=2008-04-20}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sites.google.com/view/funerarycones/functions|title=The World of Funerary Cones - Functions|website=sites.google.com|language=en-US|access-date=2019-02-20}}</ref>
Fragments of seventeen [[terracotta]] cones were found at the 2nd millennium BC site of [[al-Moghraqa]] in the [[Gaza Strip]]. The cones have no parallels in the Levant, and the archaeologists investigating al-Moghraqa suggested that the cones could have been a local adaptation of Theban funerary customs.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Steel |first=Louise |author-link=Louise Steel (archaeologist) |last2=Manley |first2=Bill |last3=Clarke |first3=Joanne |last4=Sadeq |first4=Moain |author-link4=Moain Sadeq |date=2004 |title=Egyptian ‘Funerary Cones’ from El-Moghraqa, Gaza |url= |journal=The Antiquaries Journal |language=en |volume=84 |pages=323, 329-330 |doi=10.1017/S0003581500045856}}</ref>
Funerary cones were first organized into a corpus by [[N. de Garis Davies|Davies]] and Macadam (1957).<ref>Davies, N. de G. and M.F.L. Macadam (1957), A corpus of inscribed Egyptian funerary cones. Griffith Institute, Oxford.</ref> This catalog was later supplemented by Vivo and Costa (1997).<ref>{{Cite web|last=Vivó|first=Jaume|title=Funerary Cones Unattested in the Corpus of Davies and Macadam (Annex 1)|url=https://www.academia.edu/25841852}}</ref> In the 21st century, Dibley and Lipkin (2009) and Zenihiro (2009) have compiled more complete publications, with [[Christoffer Theis|Theis]] (2017) contributing additional cones from books, articles, auction and exhibition catalogues for consideration.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Theis|first=Christoffer|title=Funerary Cones from various Auctions and Collections|url=https://www.academia.edu/31615555|journal=PalArch's Journal of Archaeology of Egypt/Egyptology |volume=14 |year=2017 |pages=1–25|language=en}}</ref>
==See also== *[[Chamber tomb]] *[[Clay nail]]–(Mesopotamia)
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Funerary cones}} *[https://sites.google.com/view/funerarycones/home The World of Funerary Cones]
==Further reading== * {{cite book | first = Kento | last = Zenihiro | title = The Complete Funerary Cones | publisher = Self-published | year=2009 | isbn = 978-4-89630-246-2 }}
[[Category:Theban tombs]] [[Category:Ancient Near and Middle East clay objects]] [[Category:Terracotta sculptures]]
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