Opening of the Mouth Ceremony

¶ … Opening of the Mouth" ceremony and why was it considered so important?

The Opening of the Mouth ceremony was the ceremony that would bring the deceased back to life. It was a critical ceremony because it allowed for the ritual rebirth that would result at the end of the mummification process. It was important because, while mummification may have helped prepare a body for rebirth, it was not actually necessary for rebirth. Through this ceremony, an inanimate object would be symbolically brought to life, which was a representation of what was believed to happen to the individual after facing judgment.

What role did the heart of the dead person play in ideas about the afterlife? Referring to the scene from the Book of the Dead of Ani Chapter 125 (illustrated in the Supplement to the Textbook) identify the real and mythical characters and discuss what is happening.

The heart of the dead person played a role that was different from the other organs. During a person's lifetime, the rest of the body aged. In the rebirth after death, the person came to life with new organs, but with the old heart. "The heart was believed to be the center of man's personality, and provided continuity in the identity of the old and that of the new resurrected person. For this reason the heart was carefully left in the body during mummification and, as an extra precaution, a heart-scarab was added to the mummy" (D'Auria et al. 1988, p.28). In the scene from the Book of the Dead of Ani, the real and mythical characters in the scene are the dead, the god Anubis, who escorts the dead to judgment, and the god of judgment, who could be either Re or Osiris. They are in front of a balance, where their lives' deeds are measured.

3. What is the role of Osiris in the mythical events associated with judgment? Why is the deceased called Osiris?

Osiris' role in the mythical events associated with judgment was interesting, given that he was noteworthy because he was the victim of homicide at the hands of his brother, Seth. "The dismemberment of the god's body has dual function and meaning, to which corresponds a dual tradition. Seth has not only killed his brother Osiris, but also, in a second act of violence, cut his corpse to pieces and thrown these into the water" (Assmann 1989, p.138). This places Osiris in the postion of rebirth, because, though his body had been cut into pieces, he can be restored. Moreover, it helps explain the practice of embalming and mummification, which restored a body that had been rendered into multiple pieces into a single whole, in a hope of defeating death. The bodies did not have to be dismembered in the mummification process, because death was a form of dismemberment. Osiris dies, but is reborn through the sky-goddess and becomes a god, himself. Osiris plays a role in the justification of the dead. The deceased has to justify himself as the personification of death, with respect to an enemy, and with respect to a divine prosecutor where the deceased has to answer for his conduct on earth (Assmann 1989, p.146).

4. What are the main concerns of the deceased in the "Declaration of Innocence" from Chapter 125? What do these tell us about Egyptian ideas of morality?