This comment piqued my interest in describing some aspects of the Ancient Egyptian rituals surrounding death that I hadn't really heard about before.

When a rich man died--in this case a man named Ipi--he left behind lands that were meant to provide an income for the maintenance of his tomb [...] and make sure the rituals for the upkeep of Ipi's soul were performed.

Can someone go into more detail about the purpose of the rituals? I know the Egyptians were very into the afterlife and were buried with possessions and so on that they would use in the afterlife. What, in their view, would be the consequences for their soul if the tomb wasn't maintained and/or rituals weren't done?

How does all of this affect commoners who weren't wealthy enough to have a ka-priest maintain their soul? Surely they had expectations of going to the afterlife as well?

Lastly, when someone like Ipi died, would it have been his expectation that ka-priests would watch over his tomb indefinitely? Would another ka-priest be appointed when Hekanakhte died or retired? Do we have any idea how long these death estates, for lack of a better term, were maintained in reality?