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... mb. Ritual dancers, known as My and a priest who honours the deceased now greet the procession. The ancient ritual of the opening of the mouth now takes place; this is the most significant part of the burial traditions as the purpose of this ceremony is to restore the mummy and their power of speech, sight and hearing. The body has now completed the first part of Egyptian rituals. When the deceased approaches the Entrance of the tomb a priest who impersonates the god Anubis stands the body in an upright position.
The priest now touches the mouth of the decease 3 d with ritual instruments, which now restores their senses. The next stage is the offering of clothes, ointments and offerings of food so the deceased can take them into the Afterlife. The mummy is now ready to be placed into its burial chamber, after the door is sealed all footprints around the tomb is swept away and the last rites are read. The stages leading up to the burial of the deceased was an integral part of the Egyptians beliefs and rituals, as the Egyptians regarded the dead as being very much alive, living in their tombs like they had previously lived in their homes.
This link between the house and the tomb was very important, the tombs chapel was commonly referred to the house of eternity (Death In Ancient Egypt page 76, 1982). Outside the chapel it was common to see lushes gardens, and tombs surrounding as Cemeteries were planned to look like miniature cities like the one at Giza. All the above beliefs and rituals were clearly uncovered in November 1922 by British archaeologist Howard Carter when he discovered the intact tomb of king Tutankhamun. Analysis of Tutankhamans mummy reveals that he was between the ages of eighteen and years old when he died. The Kings life is still a mystery to this day as historians such as Carter believes that its almost impossible to say whether the King was a victim of illness, accident, assassination or was physically frail like his previous heirs when he passed away. Historians identified the month of his death to be that of January by analysing the types of fruit and flowers such as the cornflower which were buried with him.
The cornflower usually reaches maturity in March, and from these findings it is believed that Amenophis III last son died some time in January 1343 (Tutankhamun and the Discovery of the Tomb page 158, 1972). Tutankhamun's tomb features a simple design, which is typical of the Eighteenth Dynasty. The tomb features starts, corridors, and chambers. The king tomb has a number of rooms such as the Annexe, Antechamber, Burial Chamber and the treasury and all of these rooms featured significant decorations. King Tutankhamens tomb was so unique as the treasures inside the tomb lay undisturbed to robbers, and during excavation Carter recovered over three thousand five hundred articles such as grand elegant furniture, statues, jewellery, and shrines that were placed in his tomb to help him through to the Afterlife. The kings death like other Pharaohs was a grand affair, and was mourned by all of Egypt as Horus has rejoined the Globe (Tutankhamun and the Discovery of the Tomb page 161, 1972).
Generally after a Pharaohs death there was a three-month interval between his death and his burial. During this time the complex ritual of embalming took place. The embalming of a Pharaoh was known as the House of Vigor (Tutankhamen: Life and Death of a Pharaoh page 163, 1965) in which the Pharaohs body was purified and all impurities were removed. After the final phase of the mummification ritual takes place, the Pharaoh now passes into eternity, You live again, you live again for ever, here you are young once more forever (Tutankhamun: Life and Death of a Pharaoh page 168 m 1965). When King Tutankhamun's body was bandaged, each layer contained a treasure such as golden objects. When the Kings body was unwrapped over 143 treasures were found such as pendants, amulets and golden fingerstalls.
Like the treasures wrapped in between the bandages the tomb itself was flowing with treasures, Nearly everything was made of precious material, and gold this covered a wide assortment of articles necessary to ensure eternity for the dead (Tutankhamun and the Discovery of the Tomb page 70, 1972). All of the Kings rooms inside the tomb featured significant decorations. The Antechamber held the Total royal throne, which is one of the best known objects, found inside the tomb. This throne is engaged with wood with sheets of gold and its back is covered with a scene of the Pharaoh and his wife Ankhesenamun.
The burial chamber features the first wooden coffin and the Kings mummy. The scenes painted on walls show King Tutankhamun with his Ka at the ceremony of the opening of the mouth (The Discovery of the Tomb Tutankhamun page 37, 1977) and his successor Ay. His burial bay the red quartzite sarcophagus (The Discovery of the Tomb Tutankhamun page 39, 1977) coffin had five coffins, the first to the third were anthropoid wooden coffins, the forth was golden and the fifth was his mummy. The King Tutankhamun's burial was the same as any Pharaoh and followed all rituals and beliefs as well as mummification principles. The only difference was that the King was so young at the time of his death and that till this day no other tomb has been uncovered that all items inside the tomb are still intact. It can be seen that Death and Burial in Egypt was of enormous importance within the Egyptian society especially when it was concerning someone of higher status like that of a Pharaoh.
Egyptians believed in the Afterlife and this played an important part in reinforcing the rituals and beliefs of death in Egyptian society as death was not believed to be the end but the beginning of ones life. This is why rituals and beliefs as well as architecture and decorations of tombs were emphasised and carried out in the light of ones death. These cultural beliefs have made the Egyptians most fascinating for the time and effort they put into the preparations of ones death. Pharaohs deaths such as King Tutankhamun's were of most importance to Egyptian society as all of Egypt was involved in the preparation of the King to the Afterlife, though his death resembled like many other Pharaohs which can be seen in the wondrous treasures revealed in the excavation of his tomb.
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Research essay sample on Death And Burial In Ancient Egypt
