Page:Books on Egypt and Chaldaea, Vol. 25--Liturgy of Funeral Offerings.pdf/60

 formulae from a roll of papyrus in his hands. Between the mummy and the priests is a table loaded with offerings, and on the ground round about are the various objects which are used in the performance of the ceremony. Behind the priests are the cow and calf for sacrifice, and an assistant is seen bringing a leg of beef.

In the Papyrus of Hunefer this scene is repeated with some modifications and fuller details; these are illustrated by the accompanying block. In the upper register one priest presents to the face of the mummy four vases, and another holds in one hand the instruments  and presents with the other the Ur-ḥekau instrument, the head of which is in the form of that of a ram. The priest stands behind holding a libation jar in his right hand, and a censer in his left. In the lower register are the cow and calf for sacrifice, two ministrants, the one bearing the heart and the other the leg of a bull, a sepulchral coffer, a table of offerings, and a stand on which are spread out a panther’s skin or leopard’s skin, and the instruments, vases, &c., which were used in the performance of the ceremony. Above these scenes are several short lines of text, which are entitled, “The Chapter of performing the Opening of the Mouth of the statue” [of the deceased]. This chapter contains two extracts from the “Liturgy of Funerary Offerings.”

The merit of discovering the “Liturgy of Funerary Offerings” belongs to Sig. Ernesto Schiaparelli, who in 1877 was able to prove that the contents of Papyrus