E. A. Wallis Budge - The Book of Opening the Mouth: Vol. I (Routledge Revivals): The Egyptian Texts with English Translations

Routledge Revivals

The Book of Opening the Mouth: Volume I

The recital of The Book of Opening the Mouth and the Liturgy of Funerary Offerings were in use among the Predynastic Egyptians of the later part of the Neolithic Period, before the art of writing had evolved, and continued to exercise a considerable influence on Egyptian religious literature until the time of Roman Empire. The ceremonies were believed to enable the spiritual elements of the deceased to continue their existence. The object of the formulae was the reconstitution of the body and the restoration to it of the heart-soul (Ba).

This is the first volume of The Book of Opening the Mouth, first published in 1909, which is edited from three copies written in the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-sixth Dynasties respectively. It is believed they describe faithfully the forms of the rites which originated among the indigenous inhabitants of the Nile Valley.

The Book of Opening the Mouth: Volume I

The Egyptian Texts with English Translations

E. A. Wallis Budge

First published in 1909

by Kegan Paul, Trench, Trbner & Co. Ltd

This edition first published in 2014 by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN

and by Routledge

711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

1909 Kegan Paul, Trench, Trbner & Co. Ltd

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Publishers Note

The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but points out that some imperfections in the original copies may be apparent.

Disclaimer

The publisher has made every effort to trace copyright holders and welcomes correspondence from those they have been unable to contact.

A Library of Congress record exists under LC control number: 10013899

ISBN 13: 978-1-138-77887-0 (hbk)
ISBN 13: 978-1-315-76468-9 (ebk)

Books on Egypt and Chaldaea

THE BOOK

OF

OPENING THE MOUTH

THE EGYPTIAN TEXTS WITH ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS

BY

E. A. WALLIS BUDGE, M.A., LITT.D., D.LITT., D.LIT.

KEEPER OF THE EGYPTIAN AND ASSYRIAN ANTIQUITIES IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM

VOLUME I.

WITH 1 PLATE AND 56 ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT

LONDON

KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRBNER & CO. LTD.

DRYDEN HOUSE, 43 GERRARD STREET, W.
1909
[All rights reserved]

LONDON:
PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED,
DUKE STREET, STAMFORD STREET, S.E., AND GREAT WINDMILL STREET, W.

Set of instruments used in the ceremonies performed in connection with the Opening of the Mouth.
From Abydos, VIth Dynasty (British Museum, No. 5526).

THE Book of Opening the Mouth which is printed, with English translations, in this and the following volume, is edited from three copies which were written in the XIXth, XXth and XXVIth Dynasties respectively. Though these copies are comparatively modern, it is certain that they describe faithfully ceremonies which originated among the primitive indigenous inhabitants of the Nile Valley, and reproduce the ancient formulae which were recited during their performance. The object of the ceremonies and formulae was the reconstitution of the body of the dead man and the restoration to it of the heart-soul (Ba), and the double (Ka). At the moment of death the immaterial and spiritual elements of man left him. The immortal spirit-soul (Khu) departed to the abode of spirit-souls, which was situated in some place either in heaven, or beyond the limits of this world (not below it), but the heart-soul and the Ka remained on earth, near the body, and had to be provided with meat and drink and a dwelling place. The recital of the Book of Opening the Mouth and the Liturgy of Funerary Offerings, and the performance of the ceremonies described in them, were believed in all periods to recreate the body, and to enable its spiritual elements to continue their existence. In the earliest times the ceremonies were performed on the actual dead body, but subsequently, perhaps because it was more convenient, or perhaps as the result of a change of thought, a statue was substituted for it.

On this statue, which was set upon a mound of sand, with its face turned towards the south, the ceremonies were performed by the chief priest, who recited the prescribed formulae as he did so. At a certain stage in the proceedings he declared that the heart-soul and Ka had taken up their abode in the statue, and the funeral feast then took place. The hearts of the bulls (the incarnations of Osiris, the Bull of mentet), which had been torn out from their bodies, and the fore-leg which had been cut off from each, and presented all reeking with blood to the statue, together with bread, wine and beer, formed the essentials of the feast. The spirits of these offerings were intended to be the food of the gods, and of the doubles and their heart-souls, and the material elements in the incarnate Osiris were eaten by the officiating priests, and by the relatives of the deceased, who by eating the offerings of the dead entered into communion with the spiritual beings of the Other World. Osiris was at once the victim, and deliverer, and food of the souls of the dead and of the living.

In addition to the bulls certain kinds of gazelle and geese were slain, and their bodies were likewise presented to the dead. These creatures were the incarnations of the enemies of Osiris, who at some remote period were captured by the servants of the god and were brought and slain before him. Their spirits were consumed by the god, and their bodies were eaten by his followers.

The principal ceremonies described in the Book of Opening the Mouth were in use among the Predynastic Egyptians of the later part of the Neolithic Period, a fact proved by the flint Kef-peshes instrument in the British Museum. It seems certain that they were performed generally at Abydos before the Egyptians learned or evolved the art of writing. That they were simple in character goes without saying, and that they were few in number is proved by the models of the instruments, and knives, and vases, used during the ceremonies, which are described on form substantially until the beginning of the Roman Period, and, when the copy of it in the Louvre which was made for the lady Sais was written, Christianity had been preached in Egypt for nearly one hundred years.

The Book of Opening the Mouth exercised a considerable influence on the religious literature of Egypt, for we find passages from it and allusions to it in the Pyramid Texts of arah of the VIth Dynasty, and many of its ceremonies are reproduced in the remarkable work which M. Moret has translated into French and aptly termed the Ritual of the Divine Cult. With the view of enabling the reader to compare the two works I have added an English rendering of the Ritual of the Divine Cult at the end of the present volume.