Between a Tomb and a Hard Place: Tomb Inscriptions as a Source of Historical Information

Abstract

The present paper discusses some methodological problems associated with the use of “tomb inscriptions” as a source of information for the study of the socioeconomic history of the Old Kingdom. The discussion is directly linked to the study of the dynamic of private-tomb construction, and relates to the analysis of the textual material, which mentions the commissioning of the monuments or part thereof (who did what for whom).