Amulet

Amulet

Object name: Amulet
Date: 664 BC-395 AD
Dimensions:
33 x 15 mm
Medium: Stone
Object number: C07018
DescriptionGrey pesesh-kef amulet. The pesesh-kef was one of the ritual instruments used in the Opening of the Mouth Ceremony. This ceremony was carried out on the day of burial and involved someone touching the eyes and mouth of a statue or coffin representing the deceased, in order to allow him to see, breath, eat and drink.

The pesesh-kef was a funerary amulet that guaranteed for eternity that the deceased would be able to use all his faculties in the afterlife. The earliest and most elaborate of these amulets appear in the First Intermediate Period. Versions like this one appeared in the New Kingdom and were made from dark coloured stones.