Akhet - The Horizon

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Ogdoad - Opening of the Mouth - Ostracon

Ogdoad A group of eight personified primeval deities from the Hermopolitan Creation Myth; four frog deities and four snake deities, making up different aspects of the chaos that went before creation of the ordered world: Nun - Naunet = primeval waters Heh - Hauhet = infinity Kek - Kauket = darkness Amun - Amaunet = hiddenness. According to this myth, these eight forces together made up the Primeval Mound on which the egg of the sun-god was placed. An article about the Ogdoad of Hermopolis   Opening of the Mouth This is an elaborate ritual performed on deceased kings by their sons to legitimate heritage. Thereby statues and mummies were transformed into vessels for the Ka. Could be done on the burial chamber as well as on newly created items in the workshops. It includes purification, incensing, anointing, incantations and touching certain parts of the mummy with a tool resembling a sculptor´s chisel, like the mouth, eyes, ears, nose etc so that eating, sight, hearing, smelling etc, would be restored. At the ritual opening of a newly built temple, this ritual was performed on walls, doors, etc, and on all cult statues of deities which were placed in the temple, all in order for the deities to take place within the structure or statue. In Mirjam Lichtheim´s 'Anicent Egyptian Literature', vol II, the New Kingdom, p 120 is a: "Formula for opening N´s mouth in the necropolis. He shall say:" My mouth is opened by Ptah, My Mouth´s bonds are loosed by my city-god. Djehuty has come fully equipped with spells, He looses the bonds of Seth from my mouth. Atum has given me my hands, They are placed as guardians. My mouth is given to me, My mouth is opened by Ptah With that chisel of metal With which he opened the mouth of the gods. I am Sekhmet-Wadjet who dwells in the west of heaven, I am Sahyt among the souls of On. As for any spells, any spells spoken against me. The gods shall rise up against them, The entire Ennead, the entire Ennead!   Ostracon A Greek word, used by archaeologists for sherds of pottery or limestones with texts or drawings like sketches, scribal exercises, jottings, etc. Even literary writings such as the Tale of Sinhue and other both Greek, hieratic and Coptic scripts have been excavated. Probably the use of these sherds were much cheaper than papyrus, as several thousands of these have come down to our times.

Sources:
Egypt, The World of the Pharaos - Hartwig Altenmueller et al
The Ancient Egyptians - A. Rosalie David
Egyptian Myths - George Hart
Symbols & Magic in Egyptian Art - Richard H. Wilkinson
Reading Egyptian Art - Richard H. Wilkinson

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