If I Can Be Heard In The Place Where You Are

I grew up seeing people shedding tears of sorrow, bursting, and crying in grief when visiting the tomb of a loved one. Yet I also learned in time that tears are not shed at all tombs, roses are not left on all graves, and not all cemeteries are places of mourning.

In this book, I criticise how ancient Egyptian necropolises are no longer considered, perceived, or experienced as places of mourning. I juxtapose landscapes of ancient burial grounds with views from contemporary cemeteries, archival stills, and dialogue extracts from Egyptian films and television series. The depicted mourning practices in this film material accentuate the emotional bleakness of ancient tombs where such emotionally charged experiences no longer occur. The words spoken in these scenes of loss can thus be read as though addressed to the ancient Egyptians.

To strengthen this invitation further, I interweave throughout the book excerpts from an ancient letter written by the scribe Butehamun to his departed wife. I liken thus his grieved words for his beloved to those uttered nowadays in funerals. In doing so, the book becomes a reminder that mournful tears of sorrow were once shed inside pyramids, temples, excavation pits, and touristic sites.

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