Anubis Speaks!: A Guide to the Afterlife by the Egyptian God of the Dead (19 page)

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the boat up the sacred Mound of Sokar. Pulling a ship through the sand is hard enough, but now we have to drag it up a sand hill, too? Really?

Fortunately, seven gods and seven goddesses

appear and take over for us. We need to reserve our strength for the battle. Meanwhile, falcon-headed Sokar, another god of the dead (not as powerful as me or Osiris, of course), soars overhead in his falcon form to protect us. His name, some think, means “cleaning of the mouth,” which likely refers to a very special ceremony performed on the mummy right before it was sealed in its tomb forever.

The Opening of the

Mouth Ceremony

After it was dragged through the desert, the mummy, in its coffin, was pushed upright at

its tomb entrance. It was time for the most

sacred ceremony of all—the “Opening of the Mouth Ceremony”—which made it magically possible to breathe, see, hear, and eat in the afterlife.

A special priest wearing leopard skin presided over this ceremony. Reciting spells and prayers, he touched the mummy’s mouth with various

instruments. One instrument was an
adze
, a small axe, made from a meteorite. My people believed we gods had sent meteorites to earth. Another instrument 47

was a knife typically used to cut the umbilical cord of newborn babies.

A male bull or ox was also sacrificed. While the animal was still alive, the priest chopped off one of its forelegs and shook it—still dripping blood, I might add—in front of the mummy’s face. All of these rituals strengthened the mummy’s ability to come to life in the afterworld with all its senses intact.

Only after the successful completion of the

Opening of the Mouth Ceremony was a mummy finally sealed in its tomb. But before everyone left, there was a great feast. Barbequed ox steaks for everyone!

After entombment, the ka was kept alive by

regular visits and offerings by the family and priests, who were sometimes hired for the job. Many tombs even had “viewing slits,” behind which stood a statue of the newly deceased. The slits weren’t there for you to look at your relative. Instead, they were designed to let
their
ka spy on
you
! Did you bring them the good stuff? The fancy wine and bread? Or were you scrimping?

My people figured that if the dead were watching and taking notes, they’d better not take any chances.

They’d better be generous. In return, family members asked for guidance from the dead. Would they help with this business situation? Take care of that nasty relative? Or make someone they had a crush on like them back?

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My people believed that having the dead on their side gave them an edge in the world of the living.

You Started Working

on Your Tomb Early

People in the noble classes often began paying workers to build their tombs as soon they became adults. For girls that was usually about the age of thirteen, and for boys, fifteen or sixteen. Why so early?

Well, if most people only lived to about thirty-five years old, then being in your teens was middle age!

Preparing for death was a full-time job. But that doesn’t mean my people were death-obsessed.

It’s just that they loved life so much, they wanted it to continue forever. As a result, tomb building and decoration was big business.

In many tombs, just about every single inch of space was covered with brilliantly colored carvings, paintings, and murals. Some were hieroglyphic hymns and prayers (to me, of course), while others where magnificent scenes from the lives of the deceased, or experiences they hoped to have in the afterworld, such as sailing the Nile or sharing a meal with a family member. Some scenes showed domestic bliss, such as bread baking or wine making.

The pharaohs’ tomb-temples often showcased

great battles. Enemies were often illustrated in 49