miércoles, 22 de octubre de 2014

The Opening of the Mouth in the tomb-chapel of Rekhmire

The version of the Opening of the Mouth ritual on the north wall of the rear chamber in the tomb-chapel of the vizier Rekhmira at Thebes ('Theban Tomb 100') is one of the earliest and the longest, with 51 of the 75 attested episodes, and one of the best-preserved and best-published.
1. The title introduces the setting and purpose of the ritual: a statue is to be placed in the 'House of Gold' on a bed of sand, with the face oriented to the south
2. In Episodes 2-7 the area is purified
3. In Episodes 8-10 specific priestly officials conduct the fundamental part of the ritual for conceiving the statue to be created, in a chamber named by an Egyptian word 'is'; Episode 11, absent from the Rekhmira version, presents one key participant, the sem-priest, in new costume, marking a transition to a new phase
4. Episodes 12-18 involve the sculpting of the unfinished block into a finished statue; in epsiodes 19-22 the key participants change clothing and the setting moves from the is-chamber to an outer (open air?) space
5. Episodes 23-25 cover the sacrifice of a bull and offering of select parts to the statue; Episodes 26-27 present core rites of 'Opening the Mouth' by touching the statue with special instruments; Episodes 28-30 repeat the procedures of Episodes 16-18, followed by the introduction of the 'son' for 'Opening the Mouth' in Episodes 31-32, 'Opening the Mouth' with the small finger in Episode 33, and the presentation of instruments including the peseshkaf-blade in Episodes 34-41 (not all present in the Rekhmira version)
6. Episodes 42-47 repeat the bull-sacrifice theme of Episodes 23-25 (of these Episode 42 is absent from the Rekhmira version), followed by a robing and anointing ritual of which the Rekhmira version includes only Episode 50
7. Libations to all deities and the purification of an offering (in the Rekhmira version only Episodes 59 and 65 part), followed by the concluding phase in which the image is set up in its final position, and the person conducting the ritual moves backwards out of the sacred space, brushing away any footprints (Episodes 70-75).


 http://www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/religion/wpr2.html
 

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