Informative
I've read two versions of the Book of the Dead, the Pyramid Texts, all their mythology and half of the Coffin Texts, and these books help to fill in several gaps in the overall conception of the resurrection ceremony in Egypt. It primarily deals with all of the functions and ceremonies entailing the priests to duplicate Horus resurrecting his father Osiris from the dead by his mouth. It goes as far back as to at least the 6th dynasty and is even mentioned in the early dynastic Egypt (4300 years ago). From the Pyramid Texts Utterance 21 (Faulkner translation):
[Your mouth is in good order (?), for I split open your mouth for you, I split open your eyes for you. O King, I open your mouth for you] with the adze of Wepwawet, [I split open your mouth for you] with the adze of iron which split open the mouths of the gods. O Horus, open the mouth of this King! [O Horus, split open the mouth of this King! Horus has opened the mouth of this King, Horus has split open the mouth of this King] with that wherewith he split open the mouth of his father, with that wherewith he split open the mouth of Osiris, with the iron which issued from Seth, with the adze [of iron which split open the mouths of the gods. The King?s mouth is split open with it, and he goes and himself speaks with the Great Ennead in the Mansion of the Prince which is in] On, and he assumes the Wrrt-crown before Horus, Lord of Patricians.
This is a summary utterance of many of the ideas concerning the ritual, however, one should know that it represents symbolically much more than the objects they present to the deceased pharoah. For instance, the ox leg presented to Osiris is spoken of as iron, and it is the Egyptian representation of our constellation of Ursa Major, the Big Dipper. Odd that they sould be using an iron adze that was created to represent that same constellation, and therefore relate to the ox leg. Anywho, all the offerings represent symbolistic interpretation and meant something relating to their own religious view on all that is in life.
