 | The Book of Opening the Mouth: Vol. I (Routledge Revivals): The Egyptian Texts with English Translations Subjects: Humanities; Social Sciences; Archaeology; Classical Studies; Anthropology - Soc Sci; Classical Language & Literature; Egyptology; Indigenous Peoples; Regional Anthropology; Archaeology by Period or Region; The recital of The Book of Opening the Mouth and the Liturgy of Funerary Offerings were in use among the Predynastic Egyptians of the later part of the Neolithic Period, before the art of writing had evolved, and continued to exercise a considerable influence on Egyptian religious literature until the time of Roman Empire. The ceremonies were believed to enable the spiritual elements of the deceased to continue their existence. The object of the formulae was the reconstitution of the body and the restoration to it of the heart-soul ('Ba'). This is the first volume of The Book of Opening the Mouth , first published in 1909, which is edited from three copies written in the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-sixth Dynasties respectively. It is believed they describe faithfully the forms of the rites which originated among the indigenous inhabitants of the Nile Valley. E.A. Wallis Budge, 1857 - 1934 Budge was the Curator of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities at the British Museum from 1894 to 1924. He was also a Sometime Scholar of Christ's College, a scholar at the University of Cambridge, Tyrwhitt, and a Hebrew Scholar. He collected a large number of Coptic, Greek, Arabic, Syriac, Ethiopian, and Egyptian Papyri manuscripts. He was involved in numerous archaeology digs in Egypt, Mesopotamia and the Sudan. Budge is known for translating the Egyptian Book of the Dead, which is also known as The Papyrus of Ani. He also analyzed many of the practices of Egyptian religion, language and ritual. His written works consisted of translated texts and hieroglyphs and a complete dictionary of hieroglyphs. Budge's published works covered areas of Egyptian culture ranging from Egyptian religion, Egyptian mythology and magical practices. He was knighted in 1920. E.A. Wallis Budge died on November 23, 1934 in London, England. (Bowker Author Biography) |
