Boat Burials and Boat-Shaped Pits from their Origins to the Old Kingdom: Tradition, Continuity and Change in Early Egypt.

The practice of burying boats and digging boat-shaped pits inside funerary complexes belonging to Early Dynastic elites and kings is well attested in early Egypt. However, the origins of this custom and its evolution from the 1st Dynasty until the Middle Kingdom remain to be fully addressed holistically and diachronically. This paper aims to re-evaluate current data regarding Early Dynastic boat burials and boat-shaped pits, to share some insights on the development of this tradition, and to address its adaptation to Old Kingdom religious and political innovations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]