Revival: The Liturgy of Funerary Offerings (1909): The Egyptian Texts with English Translations

This book has text and analysis of a key Egyptian ritual which was performed when preparing the corpse of a pharaoh for mummification. This is known as the ＂Book of the Opening of the Mouth＂. The ritual consisted of offering a long sequence of foodstuffs, beverages, cosmetics and other consumables, along with a litany recited by the priests. This text was also painted on the walls of the royal tomb. This recitation may be tedious and repetitous, but there is a reason that I’ve gone to the trouble of creating an etext of this book. Although Budge doesn’t emphasize this, this text comprises an important part of the ’Pyramid Texts’, of which only portions are available in public domain English translation.

Sir Ernest Alfred Thompson Wallis Budge (27 July 1857 - 23 November 1934) was an English Egyptologist, Orientalist, and philologist who worked for the British Museum and published numerous works on the ancient Near East. He made numerous trips to Egypt and the Sudan on behalf of the British Museum to buy antiquities, and helped it build its collection of cuneiform tablets, manuscripts, and papyri. He published many books on Egyptology, helping to bring the findings to larger audiences. In 1920 he was knighted for his service to Egyptology and the British Museum.