• Ancient Egyptian funerary texts were not fully standardised during this period, and varied between tombs
• Tomb decoration involved the choices and priorities of the tomb owner or commissioner
• Religious practices and funerary fashions could change within a single generation
• Local traditions shaped how beliefs were expressed in places such as Saqqara
• Egyptian religion was flexible and evolving rather than completely fixed over time

Why this matters

Ancient Egypt is often portrayed as a civilisation governed by rigid traditions and unchanging religious beliefs lasting thousands of years.

However this research challenges that perception, revealing a society in which religious ideas and funerary practices adapted over time, even across the span of a single lifetime.

Rather than being rigid, Egyptian religious culture responded to changing tastes, priorities and local traditions.

A human story told through tombs

At the heart of the book is the idea that tombs were highly personal spaces.

The decoration, inscriptions and arrangement of funerary texts within tombs at Saqqara reflected the involvement of those commissioning them. While these tombs drew on established religious traditions, they also reveal changing fashions and evolving approaches to the afterlife.

Two tombs built only a generation apart could already show noticeable differences in style, emphasis and religious presentation.

What the research found

Drawing on archaeological evidence from Saqqara, the study shows that:

• Funerary texts and images differed between tombs during this period
• Tomb decoration reflected individual commissions rather than a single rigid template
• Religious styles and practices evolved noticeably over relatively short periods of time

The findings challenge the long-standing image of Egyptian religion as static and entirely controlled from the top down by priests and kings.

Why Saqqara matters

Saqqara, the necropolis of ancient Memphis, provides an unusually rich record of religious and artistic change.

The book demonstrates how local traditions shaped tomb decoration and funerary expression, revealing how broader religious beliefs could be adapted differently within particular communities.

A different view of ancient religion

The research presents ancient Egyptian religion as:

• Evolving rather than fixed
• Influenced by local communities and changing fashions
• Shaped through personal commissions and lived experience

In short, the study suggests that ancient Egyptians were not simply preserving ancient traditions unchanged - they were continually adapting them for new generations.

Publication details

The Transmission of the Book of the Dead in New Kingdom Tombs at Saqqara will be published in paperback by Bloomsbury Academic on June 25^th, but is also currently available to read online via Open Access.

2025 will mark two decades since the partnership between The University of Manchester and Mansoura University was forged, a relationship which led to the development of Egypt’s first international medical programme.

In 2006 an initial cohort of 60 students were welcomed on to the scheme. Today the programme takes on just under 400 trainees annually, with 50% of these being international students. These students to date have hailed from 45 different countries, including students from neighbouring countries in crisis who receive their medical education through scholarships in Mansoura.

With many medical schools closed in these regions, Mansoura is helping to ensure a medical service can continue in these countries and is playing an instrumental role in educating the next generation of doctors, while helping to meet the urgent global need for an increased health workforce.

Professor Keith Brennan, Vice Dean for Internationalisation, Faculty of Biology Medicine and Health, at The University of Manchester said: “As we continue to celebrate our 200th year anniversary and the impact of our teaching and research partnerships, we can also see how our international partnerships are directly contributing to meeting global need and the huge difference they are making towards meeting the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) particularly Goals 3 Good Health & Wellbeing and 4, Quality Education”.

Additionally, The World Health Organization (WHO) predicts that there will be a global deficit of 10-14.5 million healthcare workers by 2030, 6.1 million of this deficit will be in Africa and a further 1.7 million will be in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East.

The Mansoura Manchester Medical Program directly addresses this deficit, providing training for the next generation of doctors in the region. As the programme provides an integrated training, graduates are able to work in any healthcare system globally.

The programme takes the best approaches to medical education seen globally, which put the patient first and emphasise competencies meaning graduates are in a better place to diagnose and treat patients.

Professor Ashraf Shoma, Dean, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University said: “International partnerships such as this brings enormous benefits for our students, staff and local populations. Our graduates are able to join a global workforce that can meet patient needs, both here in Egypt and overseas”.

Professor Lucie Byrne-Davies, Associate Dean for Internationalisation, Teaching & Learning Partnerships, Faculty of Biology, Medicine & Health at The University of Manchester said: “The Mansoura Manchester Medical Program is a truly collaborative initiative that combines The University of Manchester’s holistic curriculum with the quality teaching delivered by our colleagues in Egypt. Our programme provides healthcare education that will equip students with the lifelong learning and research skills they need to thrive in their future careers.”

Attending the latest cohort’s graduation were Professor Keith Brennan, Professor Lucie Byrne-Davis and Professor Joanne Hart.

Editors Professor Rosalie David from The University of Manchester and Professor Eileen Murphy Queen's University Belfast, say a military axe was probably used from behind as she was running away from her assailant.

According to the team’s latest research, the most likely weapon was an axe rather than a knife as previously suggested.

The killer could have been an Assyrian soldier, they say, though the axe was also a key weapon for the Egyptian army, so she may have fallen victim to one of her own people.

Holding an axe with his arms bent to give the murderer maximum force for the thrust into her ribs causing terrible injuries, death was probably instant.

The weapon , which has a blade with a semi-circular sharp edge at least 7–7.5 cm in length, corresponds to the injuries she sustained.

The book, called The Life and times of Takabuti in ancient Egypt: investigating the Belfast mummy, is published by Liverpool University Press.

A range of techniques, including DNA analysis, x-rays, CT scans, analyses of the hair and mummification packing materials, proteomics and radio carbon dating, were all used on tiny fragments of material.

This enabled the teams at The University of Manchester and Queen’s University Belfast to unravel the mystery of Takabuti’s life and times.

Analysis of the CT scan of Takabuti’s body revealed that she had died as a young woman in her late 20s or early 30s. Proteomics revealed no evidence of ongoing illness.

Takabuti’s title, written on her coffin, indicates that she was a married woman who supervised a substantial household – probably at Thebes - where Luxor is today.

Professor Rosalie David is an Egyptologist from The University of Manchester’s KNH Centre for Biomedical Egyptology.

She said: “It is somewhat comforting to know that Takabuti’s death- though violent, was quick and she probably didn’t suffer for long.

“But Ancient Egyptians often survived until middle age, so the tragedy of her death at such a young age is stark. We’ve worked so much with her, it’s hard not to feel close to her as a person.

“And she was probably much loved by her family: her body was tended to with great care after she died: her hair was neatly cut and was carefully curled and styled”.

“Because we have been able to identify the shape of the wound and the angle of entry of the murder weapon, we think an axe was probably responsible.

“It is, however difficult to be absolutely definitive because the morphology of the wound has been significantly distorted.”

Professor Eileen Murphy added: “This book is the result of several years of painstaking work. It adds to our understanding of not only Takabuti, but also wider historical context of the times in which she lived.

“And the cutting-edge scientific analysis we employed- demonstrates how new information is accessible thousands of years after a person’s death.

“Our team - drawn from a range of institutions and specialisms – was in a unique position to provide the necessary expertise and technology for such a wide-ranging study.”

The project was supported by funding from Friends of the Ulster Museum. Kingsbridge Private Hospital facilitated the work by providing their expertise and use of a portable x-ray machine to aid sampling for DNA and other work.

Images include Takabuti and an axe of the type used during the period of investigation.