The Old Ways

Kemetic · The Liturgy of Funerary Offerings · 1 of 5

Preface

THE present volume contains the Egyptian text and English translations of two copies of one of the most, important documents connected with the dead which have come down to us, namely, a detailed list of the offerings which were made to the dead, and also of the consecrating formulae which were recited by the chief officiating priest, as he presented them to a mummified body, or to a statue of the deceased. The ancient title of the composition, if it ever had one in early days, is unknown to us, but it has been called the "Liturgy of Funerary Offerings," because the document deals exclusively with the presentation of offerings to the dead, and because this title is convenient for reference.

This Liturgy is associated in the funerary texts in the tombs and papyri with another work entitled the "Book of Opening the Mouth" and this fact suggests that it is a portion of or a supplement to it, and that it is a development of the canonical List of Offerings which we have reason to believe was in existence under the IIIrd or IVth Dynasty. We know that funerary chapels were attached to the. pyramids and mastaba tombs of this period, and that offerings of meat and drink were made in them to the dead daily

by properly qualified priests. It follows as a matter of course that the proceedings of the priests were regulated by some system, and that some kind of written service must have been recited regularly, and we are justified in believing that the Liturgy of Funerary Offerings was that which was commonly said for kings and other royal personages, and for men of high civil and ecclesiastical rank.

In the case of the "Book of Opening the Mouth" the object of the recital was, in the earliest times at least, to bring about the reconstitution and resurrection of the dead man, and even in later times, when the work was recited before a statue, on which the accompanying ceremonies were performed, the idea of the Egyptians on this matter remained unchanged. It must be remembered also that the Egyptians intended by means of ceremonies and formulae to bring back the Ka, or double, either to the dead man, from whom it had been temporarily separated, or to a statue which represented him; and when this had been done they believed it to be their bounden duty to provide meat and drink for its maintenance. It was the Ka and the heart-soul (Ba), not the spirit-soul (Khu), which fed upon the offerings, and if meat and drink of a suitable character, and in sufficient quantity, were not provided for them, these suffered from hunger and thirst, and if the supply of offerings failed, they perished by starvation. The texts make it quite clear that the Egyptians believed in a dual-soul; one member could not die, but

the other only lived as long as it was fed with offerings by the living and provided with an abode, i.e., a statue. Offerings were brought to the funerary chapels and tombs daily, and additional gifts were presented on the days of all great festivals.

In very primitive times offerings of meat and drink were brought to the graves, and laid there for the souls of the dead to partake of at pleasure, just as is the case at the present day in -many places in the Sudan. When the ceremonies connected with the Book of Opening the Mouth were evolved, it became customary for the offerings to be brought forward at a certain place in the service, and afterwards, little by little, the canonical List of Offerings, and its later development, the Liturgy of Funerary Offerings, came into being.

As in the Book of Opening the Mouth the words spoken by the Kher-heb, or chief officiating priest, were believed to change the meat, and bread, and wine into divine substances, so in the Liturgy also the formula which was said over each element was supposed to change it into a divine and spiritual food, which was partaken of by the souls of the gods and of the dead. The material elements of the offerings were eaten by the priests and the relatives of the dead, and the act of eating brought them into communion with the blessed dead, and with the gods. The age of the belief in the transmutation of offerings cannot be stated, but it is certain that it was well known to the Egyptians under the Vth Dynasty, and there is reason

to think that it was not unknown to their ancestors in the latter part of the Neolithic Period, and that it is coeval with the indigenous African belief in the immortality of the soul, and in a life beyond the grave.

The life of the Liturgy of Funerary Offerings was long. It is found in a more or less complete form in many mastaba tombs of the Ancient Empire, in a very complete form in the pyramids of Unas and Pepi II., in incomplete forms on sarcophagi and in tombs of the XIIth Dynasty, and in the tomb of Seti I. of the XIXth Dynasty, and in complete forms in the tomb of Peta-Amen-hp of the XXVIth Dynasty and in papyri written in the first or second century of the Christian Era. The changes textually in the complete copies of the different periods are very few, and we may say that this work was used by generation after generation, in a practically unaltered form, for about four thousand years.

A description of the labours of my predecessors on this important text will be found in the introductory matter to the present volume.

E. A. WALLIS BUDGE.

BRITISH MUSEUM,

August 5th, 1909.

CHAP.

PAGE

PREFACE

I.

THE DOCTRINE OF OFFERINGS

II.

THE LITURGY OF FUNERARY OFFERINGS DESCRIBED

First Ceremony

Second Ceremony

Third Ceremony

Fourth Ceremony

Fifth Ceremony

Sixth Ceremony

III.

DESCRIPTION OF THE OFFERINGS

Seventh Ceremony

Eighth Ceremony

Ninth Ceremony

Tenth Ceremony

Eleventh Ceremony

Twelfth Ceremony

Thirteenth Ceremony

Fourteenth Ceremony

Fifteenth Ceremony

Sixteenth Ceremony

Seventeenth Ceremony

Eighteenth Ceremony

Nineteenth Ceremony

Twentieth Ceremony

Twenty-first Ceremony

Twenty-second Ceremony

Twenty-third Ceremony

Twenty-fourth Ceremony

Twenty-fifth Ceremony

}

Twenty-sixth Ceremony

Twenty-seventh Ceremony

Twenty-eighth--Thirty-fourth Ceremonies

Thirty-fifth Ceremony

Thirty-sixth Ceremony

Thirty-seventh Ceremony

Thirty-eighth Ceremony

IV.

THE LITURGY DESCRIBED

Thirty-ninth Ceremony

Fortieth Ceremony

Forty-first Ceremony

Forty-second Ceremony

Forty-third Ceremony

Forty-fourth Ceremony

Forty-fifth Ceremony

Forty-sixth Ceremony

Forty-seventh Ceremony

Forty-eighth Ceremony

Forty-ninth Ceremony

Fiftieth Ceremony

Fifty-first Ceremony

Fifty-second Ceremony

Fifty-third Ceremony

Fifty-fourth Ceremony

Fifty-fifth Ceremony

Fifty-sixth Ceremony

Fifty-seventh Ceremony

Fifty-eighth Ceremony

Fifty-ninth Ceremony

Sixtieth Ceremony

Sixty-first Ceremony

Sixty-second Ceremony

Sixty-third Ceremony

Sixty-fourth Ceremony

Sixty-fifth Ceremony

Sixty-sixth Ceremony

Sixty-seventh Ceremony

Sixty-eighth Ceremony

sixty-ninth Ceremony

Seventieth Ceremony

Seventy-first Ceremony

Seventy-second Ceremony

Seventy-third Ceremony

Seventy-fourth Ceremony

Seventy-fifth Ceremony

Seventy-sixth Ceremony

Seventy-seventh Ceremony

Seventy-eighth Ceremony

Seventy-ninth Ceremony

Eightieth Ceremony

Eighty-first Ceremony

Eighty-second Ceremony

Eighty-third Ceremony

Eighty-fourth Ceremony

Eighty-fifth Ceremony

Eighty-sixth Ceremony

Eighty-seventh Ceremony

Eighty-eighth Ceremony

Eighty-ninth Ceremony

Ninetieth Ceremony

Ninety-first Ceremony

Ninety-second Ceremony

Ninety-third Ceremony

Ninety-fourth Ceremony

Ninety-fifth Ceremony

Ninety-sixth Ceremony

Ninety-seventh Ceremony

Ninety-eighth Ceremony

Ninety-ninth Ceremony

One hundred and first Ceremony

One hundred and second Ceremony

One hundred and third Ceremony

One hundred and fourth Ceremony

One hundred and fifth Ceremony

One hundred and sixth Ceremony

One hundred and seventh Ceremony

One hundred and eighth Ceremony

One hundred and ninth Ceremony

One hundred and tenth Ceremony

One hundred and eleventh Ceremony

One hundred and twelfth Ceremony

One hundred and thirteenth Ceremony

One hundred and fourteenth Ceremony

Section from text of Pepi II.

THE LITURGY ACCORDING TO THE TEXT OF UNAS

THE LITURGY ACCORDING TO THE TEXT OF PETA-AMEN-AP

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

1. The Sem priest pouring water from a libation vase.

2. The Sem priest carrying the censer

3-5. The Sem priest pouring water from a libation vase

51, 57, 60

6. The Sem priest presenting a ball of incense

7. The Sem priest holding the Kef-pesesh

8. The Sem priest presenting the Neterti

9. The Sem, priest presenting cheese

10. The Sem priest presenting shaku

11. The Sem. priest presenting milk and whey

12. The Sem priest pouring water from a libation vase

13. The Sem priest presenting two vessels of wine

14. The Sew priest presenting the Hem cake

15. The Sem. priest presenting a ball of incense

16. The Sem priest presenting the Uten cake

17, 18. The Sem priest presenting a white vessel of wine

77, 78

19. The Sem priest presenting a vessel of Hent beer

20. The Sem priest presenting a table of offerings

21. The Sem priest presenting the Tept cake

22. The Sem priest presenting the Ah meal

23. The Sem priest presenting the breast

24. The Sem priest presenting a vessel of wine

25. The Sem priest presenting a vessel of beer

26. The Sem priest presenting an iron vessel of beer

27. The Sem priest presenting a stone vessel of beer

28. The Sem priest presenting the Seven Oils

29. The Sem priest presenting eye-paints.

30. The Sem priest presenting two bandlets

31. The Sem priest presenting burning incense

32. The Sem priest pouring water from a libation vase

33. The altar on which the offerings are placed

34. The Sem priest presenting the two royal-offering cakes

35. The Sem priest presenting two vessels of beer

36. A ministrant kneeling by the side of the offering

37. The Sem priest presenting the Tua and Shens cakes

38. The Sem priest presenting a Rethu cake

39. The Sem priest presenting a vessel of drink

40. The Sem priest presenting a vessel of beer

41. The Sem priest presenting bread and beer

42. The Sem priest presenting the Tua and Shens cakes

43. The Sem priest presenting the Sut joint

44. The Sem priest presenting two vessels of water

45. The Sem priest presenting two vessels of incense

46. The Sem priest presenting the Tua and Shens cakes

47. The Sem priest presenting two Tut cakes

48. The Sem priest presenting a Rethu cake

49. The Sem priest presenting Heth cake

50. The Sem priest presenting two Nehra cakes

51. The Sem priest presenting a Rept cake

52. The Sem priest presenting a Pasen cake

53. The Sem priest presenting a Shens cake

54. The Sem priest presenting an Amta cake

55. The Sem priest presenting Khenfu cakes

56. The Sem priest presenting Hebennet cakes

57. The Sem priest presenting cakes of Qemh

58. The Sem priest presenting Atent cakes

59. The Sem priest presenting the Pat cake

60. The Sem priest presenting Ashert cakes

61. The Sem priest presenting onions

62. The Sem priest presenting a haunch of beef

63. The Sem priest presenting a loin of beef

64. The Sem priest presenting a breast

65. The Sem priest presenting a Sut joint

66. The Sem priest presenting ribs of beef

67. The Sem priest presenting roast meat

68. The Sem priest presenting a liver

69. The Sem priest presenting a spleen

70. The Sem priest presenting a fore-quarter of beef

71. The Sem priest presenting a fore-part of a bull

72. The Sem priest presenting a Re goose

73. The Sem priest presenting a Therp goose

74. The Sem priest presenting a Set goose

75. The Sem priest presenting a Sert goose

76. The Sem priest presenting a dove

77. The Sem priest presenting a Saf cake

78. The Sem priest presenting two Shit cakes

79. The Sem priest presenting Nepat grain

80. The Sem priest presenting Mest grain

81. The Sem priest presenting Tchesert drink

82. The Sera priest presenting Tchesert drink

83. The Sem priest presenting Khenemes drink

84. The Sem priest presenting beer

85. The Sem priest presenting Sekhpet grain

86. The Sem priest presenting Pekh grain

87. The Sem priest presenting Nubian beer

88. The Sem priest presenting figs

89. The Sem priest presenting wine of the North

90. The Sem priest presenting white wine

91. The Sem priest presenting Amt wine

92. The Sem priest presenting Qem wine

93. The Sem priest presenting Senu wine

94. The Sem priest presenting Hebnent wine

95. The Sera priest presenting Khenfu cakes

96. The Sem priest presenting Ashet fruit

97. The Sem priest presenting Seshet grain

98. The Sem priest presenting Seshet grain

99. The Sem priest presenting Set grain

100. The Sem priest presenting Set grain

101. The Sem priest presenting Babat fruit

102. The Sem priest presenting mulberries

103. The Sem priest presenting mulberry cakes

104. The Sem priest presenting Hua grain

105. The Sem priest presenting offerings of all kinds

106. The Sem priest presenting spring products

107. The Sem priest presenting gifts of every kind

THE LITURGY

OF

FUNERARY OFFERINGS