OLD KINGDOM, DYNASTY VI, CIRCA 2345-2181 B.C.

Models of the equipment used in the ceremony of the "Opening of the Mouth" have been found in tombs of the Vth and VIth Dynasties. In the ritual to restore the deceased person's faculties, a bifurcated instrument called a pesesh-kef was used, the model vases containing purifying liquids and libation cups fitting into the tray compartments on either side of it. Cf. S. d'Auria et al, Mummies and Magic, the Funerary Arts of Ancient Egypt, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 1988, no. 11, p. 80-81.