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Artstor. “Artstor.” Library.artstor.org, https://library.artstor.org/#/asset/AWSS35953_35953_31676422;prevRouteTS=1666238663667.

Artstor. “Artstor.” Library.artstor.org,
https://library.artstor.org/#/asset/AWSS35953_35953_31676422;prevRouteTS=1666238663667.

Artstor. “Artstor.” Library.artstor.org, https://library.artstor.org/#/asset/SS7731421_7731421_11812371;prevRouteTS=1666848532015.
Bonner, Campbell. “Magical Amulets.” The Harvard Theological Review, vol. 39, no. 1, 1946, pp. 25–54. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/1507999. Accessed 24 Nov. 2022.Egyptian Funerary Practices and the First Intermediate Period. https://www.uc.edu/content/dam/refresh/cont-ed-62/olli/21-fall/egypt3.pdf.
Cole, Sara E. “What Is the Egyptian Book of the Dead?” Getty News, J. Paul Getty Trust, 13 Aug. 2020, https://www.getty.edu/news/what-is-the-egyptian-book-of-the-dead/. “Egyptian Mummies.” Smithsonian Institution, https://www.si.edu/spotlight/ancient-egypt/mummies.

Metmuseum.org, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/551102?ft=canopic%2Bjar&%3Boffset=0&%3Brpp=40&%3Bpos=7.

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“Visit.” Carnegie Museum of Natural History, https://carnegiemnh.org/the-power-of-the-falcon-in-ancient-egypt/#:~:text=The%20falcon%2C%20as%20I%20could,the%20living%20king%20of%20Egypt.

Where Did King Tut Get His Eyebrows? - Arrsd.org. https://www.arrsd.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/king-tut.pdf.

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This particular piece or page from Hunefer's Book of the Dead is called  #5 Preparing for Opening of the Mouth ceremony. Hunifer was a "Royal Scribe"  and had multiple titles, showing that he was a high ranking official and it is further shown with a personalized Book Of The Dead. (Khan academy) The Book of the Dead is a series of ancient Egyptian funerary spells that would help the deceased to find their way in the afterlife. The spells would either be painted on the papyrus of the book or inscribed on wrappings, figurines or anything else accompanying the person to the afterlife. (Getty) In this piece, it depicts Anubis, god of embalming/ protector of graves, or rather a priest wearing his likeness preparing his body for the afterlife with the opening of the mouth ritual. The person being prepared is Hunifer and around him are his mourning wife and daughter and three additional priests preforming rituals. Underneath the figures is a table filled with other tools used in the ceremony such as a pesesh-kef and a anima sacrifice. (Khanacademy) On the right hand side of the piece is Hieroglyphic text containing spells to recite. (Brittish museum) The other steps of the process would be removing the other organs of the body, embalming the body, wrapping in linens with amulets/spells and finally being placed in a sarcophagus/tomb.

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These four pieces are called Canopic jars, and they were placed next to the mummy or the sarcophagus. Each was a hollow vessel that had a different depiction for the lid. (Uc) They were commonly called the four sons of Horus, protective deities, and they contained the mummified organs of the deceased. (metmuseum) From left to right the jars are falcon headed Qebehsenuef, human-headed Imsety, baboon-headed Hapy and jackal-headed Duamutef. (metmuseum) Qebehsenuef watched over and housed the intestines, Imsety gaurded the liver, Happy protected the lungs and Duamutef would look over the stomach.(Uc) The falcon was a symbol of the God Horus and his job was to protect the people, and the pharaoh was seen to be the embodiment of him. Tombs were often decorated with his likeness and a jar wouldn't be an exception. (carnegiemnh) The Baboon was a symbol of Toth, God of scribes, and were also believed to guard the "lake of fire" where the dead could be redeemed. Hapi guarded the lungs so they could be restored in the afterlife. (readingmuseum) All of the jars had aspects relating to various gods, such as the jackal head relating to Anubis. It is interesting to note that these particular jars didn't have enough capacity to actually hold organs so they were "dummy jars" placed there for a symbolic meaning. The organs would instead be mummified and placed back into the body cavity.

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This piece is a Winged Scarab Beetle amulet, or rather three pieces that make a whole piece. The wings of this amulet are not the wings of a scarab beetle, but instead are the wings of a bird and is a popular funerary amulet due to the meaning behind it.(metmuseum) A scarab beetle is a dung beetle and it formed the idea that the scarab beetle would roll the newly born sun disk across the sky, in an endless cycle of rebirth causing them to be symbols of rebirth and reincarnation. Even the hieroglyph symbol translates to "manifestation" and the beetle itself was the embodiment of the god Kepri, god of the morning sun.(readingmuseum) Amulets themselves were thought to be magical in nature and had a variety of shapes and materials they were made out of. They were created to call upon deities when they were carved in their likeness, such as carrying an wedjat-eye or eye of Horus to invoke his protection. (Jstor) Sometimes the back of the amulets could be carved with hieroglyphs as names or spells that people could carry with them. (Jstor) The function of a larger heard Scarab was to prevent the heart of the dead from speaking against itself when it was weighed. (readingmuseum) The scarabs were also inscribed with a prayer spell from the Book of the Dead on the back, and other smaller amulets were placed between the wrappings of the deceased before being sealed in a sarcophagus. (jstor)

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Artist: unknown

Material: Finance, stone

Relative/Absolute Date:664–332 B.C.,Late Period

Culture: Egyptian

(Ancient Context: Given to the Museum by Barnett L. Hollander, New York, 1925. Previously presented to Mrs. Hollander by Dikran Kelekian, Paris and New York, who had the pieces from Maurice Nahman, Cairo.

Scale:L. 3 × W. 2.4 × H.

Current Location: The Met

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Artist: Unknown

Material: Limestone

Relative/Absolute Date: 712-664 B.C., Third Intermediate Period, Kushite Dynasty

Culture: Egyptian

Ancient Context: Tomb of Aafenmut

Scale:31.2 cm tall, 13.4 cm wide

Current Location: The Metropolitan

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Artist: Unknown

Material: Obsidian

Relative/Absolute Date: ca. 3300-3100 B.C.E.  Predynastic Period, Naqada III Period

Culture: Egyptian

Ancient Context: found by Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, from Akhmim, Egypt?

Scale: 3 1/2 x 1/4 x 6 1/2 in.

Current Location: Brooklyn Museum

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Artist: unknown, most likely created by a priest

Material: Papyrus

Relative/Absolute Date: c.1310 B.C

Culture: Egyptian

Ancient Context: the tomb of the scribe Hunefer in Thebes

Scale: 40 cm tall, 84.3 cm tall

Current Location: British museum

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Artist: unknown

Material: metal

Relative/Absolute Date: New Kingdom: XVIII Dynasty (Amarna and aftermath)

The Ancient World, Egypt, New Kingdom, XVIII Dynasty, Amarna and Aftermath

c. 1323 BC

Culture: Egyptian

Ancient Context: Found in the valley of the kings by Howard Carter

Scale: 21 in tall, 15.5 in wide and 19 in deep

Current Location: The Egyptian Museum

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This particular piece is a Pesesh-kef, a tool used in the ceremony called “The opening of the mouth” where  the mouth was cut open to enable the dead to eat in the afterlife, as well as release the Ba. Once the Ba was released, it was thought to reunite with the Ka or the life force of a person to form the Akh or the spiritual part of the soul. (UC) The knife could be made of obsidian, stone or mineral, and it had a forked shape. (Brooklyn Museum) The ritual was done before the deceased was wrapped in linen and sealed in the coffin. (Smithsonian) The priest did not actually cut open the mouth or eyes, it was simply pressed to them to symbolically open them up for the afterlife. (Uc) This particular ritual included numerous spells and a ritual sacrifice of a calf. The severed leg of the calf was then offered as well as grain to the mummy, after purification. (ancientegyptonline) Some other tools used with the Pesesh-kef were the Meskha a ritual adze blade a different serpent headed blade, amulets and offerings. (Uc) This was such an important ritual that it has been found depicted in many Book's of the Dead. (Khanacademy)

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The crown jewel of the exhibit is “King Tut’s Mask”. It is a funerary mask for King Tutankhamen’s mummy created about 3,000 years ago, originally found in the Valley of The Kings. It was created in his likeness, made out of gold and semi precious stones. It also depicts the Royal Nemes headdress with the vulture and ureus, a false beard which indicated divinity and the collar that was called the Collar of the falcon. (Artstor) These symbols showed that he was the ruler of upper and lower Egypt, as well as the symbols of divine parentage. (Artstor) This Funerary mask was one piece of King Tut's elaborate coffin, and only the Pharaoh would have such decorations. Each layer of it would contain hieroglyphs and spells underneath, asking for a safe passage through the underworld, as well as identifying whose body it was to Osiris. (Artstor) Otherwise, people of lower ranking would have plaster funerary masks placed upon their bodies. (UC) This particular piece was the outermost layer of the coffin, and it was decorated in King Tut's likeness.  Lapis Lazuli has been coveted since Ancient times and King Tuts mask uses this stone, especially around the eyes and the headress. Lapis was considered a sacred symbol of many gods and goddesses and was famously used as a fine ground pigment to draw the sacred eye of Horus, which may be the reason King Tut's mask is lined around the eyes. (arrsd.org) It is interesting to note that imitation Lapis may have been used due to the high material cost but for the eyes and eyebrows, it was the real deal. (arrsd.org)

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Papyrus of Hunefer Book of the Dead, #5 Preparing for Opening of the Mouth ceremony

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Papyrus of Hunefer Book of the Dead, #5 Preparing for Opening of the Mouth ceremony

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Although death is a force that comes to us all, ancient Egyptians had numerous steps to ensure that their deceased had a long and fulfilling afterlife. From creating charms to preparing an embalmed body for wrappings, Egyptians begin their afterlife process with the mummy. 

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Although death is a force that comes to us all, ancient Egyptians had numerous steps to ensure that their deceased had a long and fulfilling afterlife. From creating charms to preparing an embalmed body for wrappings, Egyptians begin their afterlife process with the mummy. 

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In Egypt, mummifying a body was quite important to their religion and lasted for about 2,000 years since 26000 BCE, until the Roman period during 30 BCE–CE 364. (Smithsonian) Mummification first started when bodies were left in the hot desert sand and when they dehydrated, they would not decay. It was quite important in Egyptian religion to enter the afterlife with your body intact. A priest would embalm the body over about 70 days, while removing the organs to be placed in canopic jars, using linen to wrap the body and would place spells and charms between the wrappings. (Smithsonian). The deceased's soul was split into three parts when they died, forming the ba (soul), Ka (life force) and the Anh (ghost). (Uc)  Another important special ritual was the “opening of the mouth” or through the use of a tool, the pesh-kef. Not all Egyptians were able to mummify the dead or be buried in tombs. Only the richest were able to afford them and all of the caskets and layers. Otherwise the poor would be buried in simple graves, sometimes with slab walls but they often always had prized possessions and food placed with the body to take into the afterlife.(UC) The afterlife was depicted as well as spells in the Book Of The Dead. Anubis and Osiris were gods of the dead and would judge a person's soul in the afterlife with the scales of Ma’at to see if they could reach A’Aru or “The field of Reeds''. (UC)