The Liturgy of Funerary Offerings

Among ancient peoples, it was widely thought that offerings of food, unguents, beverages and other items in some mysterious way would help their deceased maintain existence in the afterlife. In ancient Egypt, the practice of bringing food and drink to the graves of the departed -- especially members of the royal family and the well-to-do -- took on elaborate proportions. This volume offers a fascinating look at the rites connected with Egyptian funerary offerings. It contains the Egyptian text and English translations of two copies of one of the most important documents connected with the dead, namely, a detailed list of the offerings made to the dead and the consecrating formulae recited by the chief officiating priest, as he presented them to a mummified body, or to a statue of the deceased.