Khepesh

Khepesh


 * Hieroglyphics:**



The foreleg of a bull, the //Khepesh// was the most important meat offering that the ancient Egyptians presented to the gods and the deceased. The hieroglyphic for a bull's foreleg denoted strength, and perhaps it was considered that the foreleg transferred the life-force of the bull to the recipient (alternately, the bull may have had to do with reviving sexual powers). The constellation that we know as the Big Dipper the ancient Egyptians saw as a //Khepesh//.

The //Khepesh// also played a role in a ceremony called the Opening the Mouth, which was believed to instill life into a person's mummy, a newly-made statue, or a just completed temple. Initially, real joints of meat were deposited, together with other objects, under the foundations of sacred buildings, but from the 19th Dynasty onward, small //Khepesh// models, made of wood, became part of foundation deposits. Wooden models were also buried with the deceased.


 * Quotes from the Book of the Dead and other sources:**

"I am he who crosses the sky, I am the Lion of Ra, I am the Slayer who eats the foreleg, the leg of beef is extended to me . . ."

Magical Objects