the Book of the Dead ( PDF )

Plates V. and VI.
The ceremonies[2] which took place at the door of the tomb in an Egyptian funeral are of considerable
interest. The priest called Kher-heb, holding the Sem priest by the arm, gives directions for the slaughter
of "a bull of the South." The slaughterer, standing on the bull, cuts off a fore-leg (Fig. 3) and takes out
the heart. A woman, called the Tcherauur, who personifies Isis, then whispers in the deceased's ear,
"Behold, thy lips are set in order for thee, so that thy mouth may be opened." Next, an antelope[3] and a
duck[4]
[1. Devéria and Pierret, Papyrus Funéraire de Neb-set, plate 3.
2. The following description of them is based upon the chapters on this subject in Dümichen, Der Grabpalast des
Patuamenap, Abth. ii I, plates x ff., pp. 3 ff.
3. ### ari.
4. ### smennu.]
{p. 266}
are brought by order of the Kher-heb, and their heads are cut off.[1] The Kher-heb then addresses the
Sem priest: "I have seized them for thee, I have brought unto thee thine enemies. His hands bring his
head [as] his gift. I have slain them for thee, O Tmu; let not his enemies rise up against this god." The
slaughterer then presents the thigh to the Kher-heb, and the heart to an official whose title was Smer, and
all three then "place the thigh and the heart upon the ground before this god" (i.e., Osiris). The Kher-heb
then says to the deceased, represented by his mummy or statue: I have brought unto thee the thigh (Fig.
4) as the Eye of Horus. I have brought unto thee the heart; let there be no rising up against this god. I
have
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