Abstract

The ancient Egyptians preserved their tangible cultural heritage through their burial rituals. The scientific study of the material-objects found in the Egyptian tombs helped researchers to excavate, preserve, study and attempt to interpret the Egyptian cultures. Contemporary Africans do not or they rarely bury their dead with many items as the ancient Egyptians did. This research compares the reasons for the Egyptian preservation of their cultural heritage through burials with those of contemporary Africans. The primary purpose of this research is to explain the contribution of mummification and modern Egyptology in the preservation of the ancient Egyptian cultural heritage, and secondarily, to compare the perception of contemporary Africans on the preservation of their afterlife cultural heritage with those of the ancient Egyptians.

Key words: Afterlife beliefs, archaeology, Egyptology, excavation, intangible cultural heritage, tangible cultural heritage, sites.