followed on land or on separate barges across the
river. The hearse boat used for the crossing had a shrine
cabin adorned with flowers and with the palm symbols
of resurrection. During the crossing the sem priest
incensed the corpse and the females accompanying it.
The professional mourners sometimes rode on top of the
cabin as well, loudly proclaiming their grief to the
neighborhood.
The procession landed on the opposite shore of the
Nile and walked through the desert region to the site,
where the sempriest directed the removal of the coffin so
that it could be stood at its own tomb entrance for the rit-
uals. In later eras a statue of the deceased was used in its
place. A kastatue was often used in the same ceremony,
an image of the deceased with upraised arms extending
from the head. The priest touched the mouth of the
statue or the coffin and supervised the cutting off of a leg
of an ox, to be offered to the deceased as food. All the
while the MUU DANCERS, persons who greeted the corpse
at the tomb, performed with harpists, the hery-heb
priests, and kapriests, while incensing ceremonies were
conducted.
The mummy was then placed in a series of larger
coffins and into the sarcophagus, which waited in the
burial chamber inside. The sarcophagus was sealed, the
canopic jars put carefully away, and the doors closed with
fresh cement. Stones were sometimes put into place, and
seals were impressed as a final protection. A festival fol-
lowed this final closing of the tomb.
These rituals did not apply to all Egyptian burials.
The poor conducted similar ceremonies on the desert
fringes, sometimes using cliff sites for tombs. Another
custom that originated in the Early Dynastic Period and
remained popular throughout Egypt’s history was the
burial at ABYDOS, the city of the god of the dead, Osiris.
Burial in Abydos assumed such importance, in fact, that
various rulers had to designate certain areas of the city’s
necropolis as reserved and had to limit the number of
interments allowed on the various sites.
Once the body was entombed, the mortuary rituals
did not end. The royal cults were conducted every day,
and those who could afford the services of mortuary
priests were provided with ceremonies on a daily basis.
The poor managed to conduct ceremonies on their own,
this being part of the filial piety that was the ideal of the
nation. A daily recitation of prayers and commemorations
was based on the Egyptian belief that any nameless crea-
tures, unknown to the gods or people, ceased to exist at
all. Thus the name of the deceased had to be invoked on
a daily basis in order for that person to be sustained even
in eternity.
Documents dating to the Middle Kingdom (2040–
1640 B.C.E.) indicate that members of the royal family
and the nome aristocrats endowed mortuary priests for
rituals to be conducted on a perpetual basis at their
tombs, providing stipends and expense funds. Entire fam-
ilies or clans of priests conducted such services, particu-
larly in the pyramidal complexes of the rulers. Such pyra-
mid rituals were paid by the state, as part of the royal
cult. Mortuary offerings were brought every day. These
gifts were listed first in the LIST OF OFFERINGS, started in
the Old Kingdom, and evolved into the LITURGY OF THE
FUNERARY OFFERINGS.
In return, the priests performing these rites were
given estates, ranks, and honors that could not be turned
over to other priests, except in the case of a son inherit-
ing his father’s priestly rank and position. A legal system
emerged from these contracts, which protected the
deceased against rivalry or disputes among the priests
endowed to perform perpetual offerings. If a mortuary
priest sued another for more rights or properties, he lost
every rank and honor that he possessed. If a particular
priest stopped the mortuary services that had been
requested and paid for, his order instantly assumed all of
his benefits and material goods.
A symbol of the contracts made by the mortuary
priests and the deceased were the TOMB BALLS, discovered
in ancient Egyptian burial chambers. Such balls, made or
bits of papyrus and linen, were marked with the hiero-
glyph for “seal” or “contract.” They are believed to be
symbols of the contracts drawn up between the priests
and the family of the deceased or the person himself.
They were deposited by the priests as tokens of good
faith, binding their agreements by placing them before
the kaof the dead.
The daily mortuary liturgies that were performed
each morning by the priests, in keeping with their con-
tracts, involved a greeting of the deceased. The mummy,
or in most cases a statue, was placed on a small stand.
The Opening of the Mouth ceremony was then per-
formed. This involved touching the lips of the deceased
with a special instrument designed to emit magical prop-
erties, the UR-HEKA.The statue was then purified and
given gifts of food and adornments. The Liturgy of the
Offeringscontained more than 114 separate ceremonies.
The purpose of the ritual was to change meat, bread, and
wine into divine, spiritual substances for the deceased
and the gods. This transmutation of offerings was docu-
mented in tombs as far back as the Fifth Dynasty
(2465–2323 B.C.E.). It was also believed that the ritual
could revitalize the senses and the various organs of the
deceased. All was based on the resurrection of Osiris and
on the basic creed that no human life was obliterated at
the moment of death but transformed into shapes that
accommodated the eternal environment. The ritual of
mortuary sacrifice followed, as food and drink were
offered to the deceased. This followed the custom of the
early eras, when the ruler was obliged to present such an
offering for each citizen.
The mortuary rituals thus embraced all aspects of
death among the Egyptian people. The preparation for
the tomb, in keeping with spiritual aspirations andmortuary rituals 255