Model of the "Opening of the Mouth" ritual equipment

Model of the "Opening of the Mouth" ritual equipment

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The small stone tray holds models of objects required for the Opening of the Mouth ceremony. This rite reanimated the deceased or animated a statue so that it could eat, breathe, see, hear, and otherwise enjoy everything offered to it. The forked instrument was touched to the mouth of the deceased's mummy or statue; it symbolically restored the individual's capability of independent existence. In addition to the implement, this set includes replicas of the vessels with which the newly revived spirit was offered milk (a baby's first source of nourishment), salt water (used for cleansing), and fresh water. Forked blades (see 16.2.6) were included in burials throughout the Predynastic Period.The cutting edge is the V-shaped notch. Although the implement's exact purpose is unknown, there is persuasive evidence that it was used at birth to cut the umbilical cord and was placed in the grave to assist its owner's rebirth into the afterlife.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Model of the "Opening of the Mouth" ritual equipmentModel of the "Opening of the Mouth" ritual equipmentModel of the "Opening of the Mouth" ritual equipmentModel of the "Opening of the Mouth" ritual equipmentModel of the "Opening of the Mouth" ritual equipment

The Met collection of ancient Egyptian art consists of approximately 30,000 objects of artistic, historical, and cultural importance, dating from about 300,000 BCE to the 4th century CE. A signifcant percentage of the collection is derived from the Museum's three decades of archaeological work in Egypt, initiated in 1906 in response to increasing interest in the culture of ancient Egypt.