ed with seven kinds of unguents, and its
eyes smeared with eye paint. After the statue had been washed and
dressed a meal of sepulchral offerings was set before it. The essential
ceremony consisted in applying to the lips of the statue a curiously
shaped instrument called the PESH KEF, with which the bandages that
covered the mouth of the dead king in his tomb were supposed to be cut
and the mouth set free to open. In later times the Liturgy of Opening
the Mouth was greatly enlarged and was called the Book of Opening the
Mouth. The ceremonies were performed by the Kher-heb priest, the son of
the deceased, and the priests and ministrants called Sameref, Sem, Smer,
Am-as, Am-khent, and the assistants called Mesentiu. First of all
incense was burnt, and the priest said, "Thou art pure," four times.
Water was then sprinkled over the statue and the priest said, "Thou art
pure. Thou art pure. Thy purifications are the purifications of
Horus,[1] and the purifications of Horus are thy purifications." This
formula was repeated three times, once with the name of Set,[2] once
with the name of Thoth,[3] and once with the name of Sep. The priest
then said, "Thou hast received thy head, and thy bones have been brought
unto thee before Keb."[4] During the performance of the next five
ceremonies, in which incense of various kinds was offered, the priest
said: "Thou art pure (four times). That which is in the two eyes of
Horus hath been presented unto thee with the two vases of Thoth, and
they purify thee so that there may not exist in thee the power of
destruction that belongeth unto thee. Thou art pure. Thou art pure. Pure
is the _seman_ incense that openeth thy mouth. Taste the taste thereof
in the divine dwelling. _Seman_ incense is the emission of Horus; it
stablisheth the heart of Horus-Set, it purifieth the gods who are in the
following of Horus. Thou art censed with natron. Thou art established
among the gods thy brethren. Thy mouth is like that of a sucking calf on
the day of its birth. Thou art censed. Thou art censed. Thou art pure.
Thou art pure. Thou art established among thy brethren the gods. Thy
head is censed. Thy mouth is censed. Thy bones are purified. [Decay]
that is inherent in thee shall not touch thee. I have given thee the Eye
of Horus,[5] and thy face is filled therewith. Thou art shrouded in
incense (say twice)."[6]

[Footnote 1: A form of the Sun-god.]

[Footnote 2: Originally a benevolent god: later the grea