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"Opening of the mouth" scene.
Tomb of Inherkha, Thebes. |
Cult images of the gods were produced from only the most permanent or symbolically significant materials, and the production of a divine statue was considered as an act of creation accomplished by human craftsmen with the help of the Egyptian gods themselves. There was thus something of the supernatural about the divine image even from its initial design and fashioning at the craftsmen's hands. Mythologically, the skin of the gods was said to be of pure gold so divine images were often gilded or made entirely with the precious metal. Their hair was said to be like lapis lazuli so this semi-precious stone was often inset into statues of deities to signify their hair and eyebrows. Symbolic connections were also made with the deity by means of the materials used in its image - lunar deities, for example often being inset iwth silver, which signified the moon. The connection between the image and the deity it represented was made total, however, through the rite of the "opening of the mouth". This ritual symbolically removed all traces of human origin from the image and
instilled it with the emanation of the deity. At this point the image was believed to become the invisible deity's visible body on earth. As such it "lived" and fulfilled the function not only of an intermediary but as the very nexus of interaction between this world and beyond...
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