The Ancient Egyptian offering formula, generally referred to as the ḥtp-dỉ-nsw formula by Egyptologists, was written in ancient Egypt as an offering for the deceased. An Egyptologist is any archaeologist, historian, linguist, or art historian who specializes in Egyptology, the scientific study of Ancient Egypt and its antiquities. ... Khafres Pyramid (4th dynasty) and Great Sphinx of Giza (c. ...

It always begins,

ḥtp dỉ nsw. This phrase comes from Old Egyptian, and probably means "a boon given by the king," as the king was seen as the godly link between the people of Egypt and divine beings. The offering was made through him. Old Egyptian is one diachronic part of Egyptian language and Egyptians spoke it from 2600 BC to 2000 BC (after Archaic Egyptian and before Middle Egyptian). ... Italic textIf youre interested in IAMX theater see, the mystery of the river Nile Pharaoh was the ancient Egyptian name for the office of kingship. ...

Next it invokes a god of the dead and several of his epithets, usually Osiris, Anubis, or (rarely) Geb or another deity: For other uses, see Osiris (disambiguation). ... Anubis is the Greek name for the ancient jackal-headed god of the dead in Egyptian mythology whose hieroglyphic version is more accurately spelled Anpu (also Anup, Anupu, Wip, Ienpw, Inepu, Yinepu,Inpu, or Inpw). ... Amongst the group who believed in the Ennead, a form of Egyptian mythology centred in Heliopolis, Geb (also spelt Seb, and Keb) was the personification of the earth, and indeed this is what his name means - earth, and thus it was said that when he laughed, it caused earthquakes. ...

"wsỉr nb ḏdw, nṯr ˁȝ, nb ȝbḏw and also Osiris, the lord of Busiris, the great god, the lord of Abydos." There was apparently no set rule about what epithets were used, however "Lord of Busiris," "Great God," and "Lord of Abydos" were very common. Also frequent were: Busiris is the Greek name of a place in Egypt, which in Egyptian, was named djed (also spelt djedu). ... Abydos may mean: Egyptian Mythology - The holy city of Osiris, who was buried there himself, as were many other pharaohs. ...

"nb ỉmnt nb nḥḥ, Lord of the West, Lord of Eternity"
Anubis is seen less frequently than Osiris, and usually read,

"ỉnpw, ḫnty sḥ nṯr tpy ḏw=f, and also Anubis, he who is in front of his divine booth, he who is on his mountain."

It proceeds with the list of ḫrt-prw, or "invocation offerings"

"dỉ=f prt-ḫrw t ḥnqt, kȝw ȝpdw, šs mnḥt ḫt nbt nfrt wˁbt ˁnḫt nṯr ỉm, He gives invocation offerings of bread, beer, oxen, birds, alabaster, cloathing, and every good and pure thing upon which a god lives."

It finishes with the name and titles of the person to whom the invocation offerings go. For instance,

"n kȝ n ỉmȝḫy s-n-wsrt, mȝˁ-ḫrw, for the soul of the revered Senwosret, True of Voice." Sesostris was the name of a legendary king of ancient Egypt. ...

See also

• Egyptian mythology
• Egyptian soul
• Egyptian burial rituals and protocol
• Ancient Egyptian Funerary Texts

Egyptian mythology or Egyptian religion is the succession of tentative beliefs held by the people of Egypt for over three thousand years, prior to major exposure to Christianity and Islam. ... In Egyptian mythology, the human soul is made up of seven parts: the Ren, Sekhem, the Akh, the Ba, the Ka, the Sheut, and the Sekhu. ... Religion pervaded all aspects of Ancient Egyptian culture but the Ancient Egyptian burial rituals, are some of the most obvious signs of this. ... The literature that make up the Ancient Egyptian Funerary Texts are a collection of religious documents that were used in Ancient Egypt, usually to help the spirit of the concerned person to be preserved in the afterlife. ...

References

• Bennett, C. John C. (1941). "Growth of the ḤTP-DI-NSW Formula in the Middle Kingdom". Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 27: 77–82. 
• Franke, Detlef (2003). "The Middle Kingdom Offering Formulas—A Challenge". Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 89: 39–57. 
• Lapp, Günther (1986). Die Opferformel des Alten Reiches unter Berücksichtigung einiger später Formen. Mainz am Rhein: Verlag Philipp von Zabern. 
• Smither, Paul C. (1939). "The Writing of the ḤTP-DI-NSW Formula in the Middle and New Kingdoms". Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 25: 34–37. 

External links

• O'Brien, Alexandra A., "Death in Ancient Egypt".
• Telford, Mark Patrick, "Death And The Afterlife".
• Gardiner, Sir Alan, Egyptian Grammar