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Despite the large number of ancient Egyptian musical instruments which have been found, pharaonic music remains a poorly studied area of academic interest. The few research has mostly been conducted by musicologists, and particularly by Hans Hickmann on the iconographic record. Useful Egyptological work has, on the other hand, been conducted on the textual material. Despite these efforts, limited research has been administered on the archaeological sources, consisting of the extant instruments and their context, itself. Nonetheless, by looking at the extant instruments and their associated objects, much information can be gained. This paper evaluates the interpretative possibilities the material, more specifically ancient Egyptian stringed musical instruments or 'chordophones', has to offer. It presents the original excavation contexts of the objects under study and places them in their chronological and geographical framework. Thereafter, the functionality of objects is derived from remaining string traces and evidence of repairs and adjustments. On the other hand, 'Model instruments' are identified by their morphological properties and decoration. Two inscribed musical instruments are used to place both the functional and model instrument category into perspective. Afterwards, the paper offers an overview of all extant ancient Egyptian chordophones and places them in a typological framework. The morphological capabilities and limitations of every instrument is used to ascertain the position of the type or subtype within the musical ensemble. Finally, all previous elements are combined in a preliminary overview of the evolution of the use of stringed musical instruments in the ancient Egyptian funerary culture. In the addendums, a list with the basic measurements and associated burial goods of the musical instruments is added. The study is supplemented further with a photographic overview