represented the "children of Horus," once more raised
the mummy into an upright position upon a heap of sand in the middle of
the chapel, and celebrated in his behalf the divine mystery instituted
by Horus for Osiris. They purified it both by ordinary and by red water,
by the incense of the south and by the alum of the north, in the same
manner as that in which the statues of the gods were purified at the
beginning of the temple sacrifices; they then set to work to awake the
deceased from his sleep: they loosened his shroud and called back the
double who had escaped from the body at the moment of the death-agony,
and restored to him the use of his arms and legs. As soon as the
sacrificial slaughterers had despatched the bull of the south, and cut
it in pieces, the priest seized the bleeding haunch, and raised it
to the lips of the mask as if to invite it to eat; but the lips still
remained closed, and refused to perform their office. The priest then
touched them with several iron instruments hafted on wooden handles,
which were supposed to possess the power of unsealing them.

[Illustration: 023a.jpg COFFIN-LID]

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from a photograph by M. de Mertens.

[Illustration: 023b.jpg COFFIN-LID]

The "opening" once effected, the double became free, and the
tomb-paintings from thenceforward ceasing to depict the mummy,
represented the double only. They portrayed it "under the form which he
had on this earth," wearing the civil garb, and fulfilling his ordinary
functions. The corpse was regarded as merely the larva, to be maintained
in its integrity in order to ensure survival; but it could be relegated
without fear to the depths of the bare and naked tomb, there to remain
until the end of time, if it pleased the gods to preserve it from
robbers or archaeologists. At the period of the first Theban empire
the coffins were rectangular wooden chests, made on the models of the
limestone and granite sarcophagi, and covered with prayers taken from
the various sacred writings, especially from the "Book of the Dead";
during the second Theban empire, they were modified into an actual
sheath for the body, following more or less the contour of the human
figure. This external model of the deceased covered his remains, and
his figure in relief served as a lid to the coffin. The head was covered
with the full-dress wig, a tippet of white cambrio half veiled the
bosom, the petticoat fell in folds about the limbs, t