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"Immortality Parade"
The funeral ceremonies take place, and are divided into three rituals, the stage of mourning days around the funeral bed, with the screaming and wailing of specialized mourners, and it lasts the mummification period, after which the procession proceeds towards the shore of the Nile River, carrying the deceased and his belongings, accompanied by his family members, friends and mourners of course, then the procession crosses the river on boats.
As soon as the procession reaches the other mainland, it walks in the direction of the cemetery, and the priests perform the required rites, most notably the "opening the mouth" rite, which aims to activate the senses of the deceased and restore life to him, according to ancient Egyptian religious thought.And the Egyptian scientist Ramadan Abdo Ali says in his study that the priest used to perform the ritual of “opening the mouth” by touching the mummy’s face twice as well as his mouth with a special tool called “Step” meaning (the chosen one) and he said to him: “Now you see with your eyes, you hear with your ears, and you open your mouth to speak.” You eat, you move your arms and legs, you live, you are now alive, you are young again and you will live forever.”
Texts of Resurrection and Immortality
Reading the various religious and funerary texts and formulas is necessary to resurrect the soul and preserve the mummy, after death, during the purification process, during mummification, at burial, and when offerings are made, and the funeral items are placed in the cemetery.
The French scientist Francois Dumas, in his study "Life in Ancient Egypt", says that in order to secure the resurrection of the soul of the deceased, it was necessary to read paragraphs of the texts and the three official formulas: the texts of the pyramids, the texts of the coffins, and some chapters of the book "Exit to the Day" (Book of the Dead idiomatically). This is in addition to reading the various funeral formulas and formulas of mercy for the deceased.
There is a text by Mentomahat, the fourth priest of the god Amun from the era of the 25th dynasty, in which he says on one of his statues: "Water and prayers are for me more beneficial than millions of things."The text of the pyramids is the oldest set of funerary texts so far. It is a royal literature that aims to secure the fate of the king after his death, with the effectiveness of the invocations or prayers that they contain. It was engraved on the walls of the royal funeral chambers, inside the pyramid, starting from the reign of King Wanis (or Unas), another The kings of the Fifth Dynasty, and this custom continued until the beginning of the first transition period, according to the division of the history of ancient Egypt, and the queens also benefited from it, under the Sixth Dynasty, starting from the reign of King Bibi I.These texts were to be read during royal funeral ceremonies, and they were continually modified by cantor writers as needed, all intended to confirm the proclamation of life: "King, you did not go away dead, you went alive."
With the development of the conditions of life, the text of the coffins appeared in new formulas, adapted to the conditions of life, and the topic of “assessing the qualities” of the deceased appeared, which is a precursor to what would then become a trial for the dead, and then a new conception of evil ascribed to man, and not to the gods as in the text The following is from the text of the coffins from the speech of the deceased merging into God, quoting from the study “The World of the Egyptians” by Marie Bonheim: “I have created every man like his neighbor. I did not command him to do evil: it was his conscience that violated what I commanded! I made their consciences not forget the existence of the West (Kingdom of the Dead )".Starting from the era of the New Kingdom, what is known as the book “Exit to the Day” appeared, idiomatically known as the Book of the Dead, and it was usually written on papyrus or engraved on the walls of tombs until the Roman era. Next to the mummy when closing the coffin.Serving the deceased king, these texts review four main constant themes: the descent to the tomb and entry into the kingdom of the dead, along with invocations and prayers to the gods Osiris and Ra (chapter 1 through chapter 16), and the restoration and renewal of life in the underworld (chapter 17 to 63), then the transformations of the deceased and his exit to the day, his reaching the heavenly boat and his return to the underworld (chapters 64 to 129) after verifying the weight of the heart (chapter 125) and determining the fate of the deceased (in heaven or hell), and finally the rites of glorifying and honoring the deceased and the rites of offering The offerings.The French scholar François Dumas says in his study "The Pharaonic Civilization of Egypt" that religious manifestations "are the social expression of the beliefs of a nation and its way of participating in the divine world. If personal prayer, as easy as it is, allows for deep religious feelings to be probed, and perhaps it revealed the deepest depths Religion, it is rituals that allow us to perceive the level to which a civilization has reached.”The ancient Egyptians relentlessly sought to attain eternity, and mobilized all material means that surpass every imagination in order to preserve the appearance of the body forever, and to provide endless alternatives, to fight the battle of their belief in the existence of eternal life without death for them, which is what the texts of Al-Ahram refer to in the text “Al-Mulk” He did not die, he became alive like the morning sun rising from the east behind the horizon, resting from life in the west like the sun at sunset, but at dawn he will be found in the east, did you say he will die, no he will not die at all because the sun - he lives to Eternal - O sublime among the immortal stars, you will not perish.King Khiti III warns his son Merikare in his teachings, saying: “Do not place your trust in the number of years, because for the deities of the court of justice, life is only an hour, and man also lives even after he reaches the gates of death, his works are placed next to him as if they are his only wealth, existence in the other world Eternal, and he who does not care is sane.”
Reading the various religious and funerary texts and formulas is necessary to resurrect the soul and preserve the mummy, after death, during the purification process, during mummification, at burial, and when offerings are made, and the funeral items are placed in the cemetery.
The French scientist Francois Dumas, in his study "Life in Ancient Egypt", says that in order to secure the resurrection of the soul of the deceased, it was necessary to read paragraphs of the texts and the three official formulas: the texts of the pyramids, the texts of the coffins, and some chapters of the book "Exit to the Day" (Book of the Dead idiomatically). This is in addition to reading the various funeral formulas and formulas of mercy for the deceased.
There is a text by Mentomahat, the fourth priest of the god Amun from the era of the 25th dynasty, in which he says on one of his statues: "Water and prayers are for me more beneficial than millions of things."
The text of the pyramids is the oldest set of funerary texts so far. It is a royal literature that aims to secure the fate of the king after his death, with the effectiveness of the invocations or prayers that they contain. It was engraved on the walls of the royal funeral chambers, inside the pyramid, starting from the reign of King Wanis (or Unas), another The kings of the Fifth Dynasty, and this custom continued until the beginning of the first transition period, according to the division of the history of ancient Egypt, and the queens also benefited from it, under the Sixth Dynasty, starting from the reign of King Bibi I.
These texts were to be read during royal funeral ceremonies, and they were continually modified by cantor writers as needed, all intended to confirm the proclamation of life: "King, you did not go away dead, you went alive."
With the development of the conditions of life, the text of the coffins appeared in new formulas, adapted to the conditions of life, and the topic of “assessing the qualities” of the deceased appeared, which is a precursor to what would then become a trial for the dead, and then a new conception of evil ascribed to man, and not to the gods as in the text The following is from the text of the coffins from the speech of the deceased merging into God, quoting from the study “The World of the Egyptians” by Marie Bonheim: “I have created every man like his neighbor. I did not command him to do evil: it was his conscience that violated what I commanded! I made their consciences not forget the existence of the West (Kingdom of the Dead )".
Starting from the era of the New Kingdom, what is known as the book “Exit to the Day” appeared, idiomatically known as the Book of the Dead, and it was usually written on papyrus or engraved on the walls of tombs until the Roman era. Next to the mummy when closing the coffin.
Serving the deceased king, these texts review four main constant themes: the descent to the tomb and entry into the kingdom of the dead, along with invocations and prayers to the gods Osiris and Ra (chapter 1 through chapter 16), and the restoration and renewal of life in the underworld (chapter 17 to 63), then the transformations of the deceased and his exit to the day, his reaching the heavenly boat and his return to the underworld (chapters 64 to 129) after verifying the weight of the heart (chapter 125) and determining the fate of the deceased (in heaven or hell), and finally the rites of glorifying and honoring the deceased and the rites of offering The offerings.
The French scholar François Dumas says in his study "The Pharaonic Civilization of Egypt" that religious manifestations "are the social expression of the beliefs of a nation and its way of participating in the divine world. If personal prayer, as easy as it is, allows for deep religious feelings to be probed, and perhaps it revealed the deepest depths Religion, it is rituals that allow us to perceive the level to which a civilization has reached.”
The ancient Egyptians relentlessly sought to attain eternity, and mobilized all material means that surpass every imagination in order to preserve the appearance of the body forever, and to provide endless alternatives, to fight the battle of their belief in the existence of eternal life without death for them, which is what the texts of Al-Ahram refer to in the text “Al-Mulk” He did not die, he became alive like the morning sun rising from the east behind the horizon, resting from life in the west like the sun at sunset, but at dawn he will be found in the east, did you say he will die, no he will not die at all because the sun - he lives to Eternal - O sublime among the immortal stars, you will not perish.
King Khiti III warns his son Merikare in his teachings, saying: “Do not place your trust in the number of years, because for the deities of the court of justice, life is only an hour, and man also lives even after he reaches the gates of death, his works are placed next to him as if they are his only wealth, existence in the other world Eternal, and he who does not care is sane.”
