Leiden University Student Repository

Geest, Laura (2024)

The Opening of the Mouth ritual in the Middle Kingdom

Master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (MA)

This thesis studies the Opening of the Mouth ritual in the Middle Kingdom through iconography, textual material and archaeological finds. The current understanding of the ritual is largely based on New Kingdom material, with little regard for its roots in the Old and Middle Kingdom. The first chapter discusses the ritual based on the depiction of objects related to the Opening of the Mouth on object friezes present in Middle Kingdom coffins. In this chapter, an overview of research on the New Kingdom iconographical material is also given, most notably the tomb of Rekhmire in Thebes. The second chapter discusses textual attestations of implements used for the ritual. The main source for the Middle Kingdom are the so-called ‘Coffin Texts’. The chapter also discusses important sources from the New Kingdom. The third chapter focusses on archaeological material throughout Pharaonic history, in order to look at the actual implementation of the ritual. The conclusion provides new insight...Show moreThis thesis studies the Opening of the Mouth ritual in the Middle Kingdom through iconography, textual material and archaeological finds. The current understanding of the ritual is largely based on New Kingdom material, with little regard for its roots in the Old and Middle Kingdom. The first chapter discusses the ritual based on the depiction of objects related to the Opening of the Mouth on object friezes present in Middle Kingdom coffins. In this chapter, an overview of research on the New Kingdom iconographical material is also given, most notably the tomb of Rekhmire in Thebes. The second chapter discusses textual attestations of implements used for the ritual. The main source for the Middle Kingdom are the so-called ‘Coffin Texts’. The chapter also discusses important sources from the New Kingdom. The third chapter focusses on archaeological material throughout Pharaonic history, in order to look at the actual implementation of the ritual. The conclusion provides new insight into the performance and presence of the Opening of the Mouth ritual in the Middle Kingdom.Show less

Opening of the Mouth ritual

Middle Kingdom

Object frieze

Coffin Texts

Peseshkef

Author

Geest, Laura

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

Egyptology

Supervisors

Kaper, O.E.

ECTS Credits

15

Language

en