The most astonishing similarity, though, between ancient and modern Egyptian funeral practices is in regards to mourning. Specifically, after the one’s death, their female loved ones take it upon them to become professional mourners. Moreover, their grief can be very intense depending on how close they were with the deceased. For example, these women may roll on the floor and tear up their clothes or even scratch their faces and punch their breasts.
Almost identical lamentations took place during the funeral of Ramose, a vizier during the 18th Pharaonic Dynasty (around 1400BC). Contracted women were screaming loudly, weeping and tearing their clothes off. One of the most peculiar Egyptian death practices from older times that made it all the way to modernity, are the death letters. In other words, these were letters addressed to the dead that the living would write for closure. Egyptians may publish these letters on newspapers and use them as a way to get closure. Up until the 1970s, around 14% of educated Egyptian were still writing these letters.
