The tragic funeral period started with the mummification of Pharaoh Atem. All internal organs were removed before the mummification with the exception of the heart. Next the body was covered with salt and left for forty days until all moisture was eliminated. Perfumed oils were rubbed on the body. Thick layers of resin were applied to glue the strips of linen that were wrapped around the body. The mummy was placed on a wooden board and more wrappings bound them together. Long linen strips further secured the wrappings.
After that friends, family and professional mourners gathered at the home of Atem. Here they began the long procession to the tomb carrying items to accompany him in the afterlife and to show their grief.
Atem's special items were also taken to the tomb, they were personal items, some of his favourite things and things that had been used as part of his professional career, and of course the shattered millennium puzzle which contained his spirit was taken into the tomb, it would wait for another 5,000 years before it would be solved and his spirit could be reborn.
It was also at this time that the important funerary items such as the canopic jars and ushabti were carried to the tomb. A statue of Atem was also part of the procession, accompanied by the sem-priest (Identifiable by his traditional panther skin), and then the mummy itself.
Slowly the funeral procession made its way to the banks of the Nile. Here boats ferried them across the river. The mourners took the first boat, the second boat took only the mummy, Sem-priest and two female mourners (Representing Isis and Nephthys). Other boats would take any remaining mourners and as well as servants and grave goods, but the shattered millennium puzzle travelled with the mummified pharaoh.
On crossing the Nile the funeral procession made its way to the 'Wabet'. Now the mummy began the final stage of its journey, the journey into the cemetery of the dead. The muu dancers met the funeral procession somewhere along its way and performed a ritualistic dance.
At the entrance to the tomb the mummy was raised to an upright position, the Sem-priest spoke a few words of ritual while lesser-ranked priests purified the coffin with water and incense. At this point an 'adze' was raised to the lips of the face of the coffin/mummy, the adze was raised in this way twice, than a forked instrument (a Pesesh-Kef) a knife or wand touched the mummy, now the senses of the mummy would be fully restored when he finally went into the afterlife. An ox was than slaughtered and one of its forelegs was offered to the face of the mummy, possibly to restore his sexual powers when he finally went into the afterlife.
Once the ceremonies outside the tomb had been completed, lector priests (usually three or four) recited an offering ritual at the false door of the tomb, this was so Atem's ka had sustenance for eternity. After the offering ritual the coffin was finally placed inside the tomb along with the grave goods, and the shattered millennium puzzle was placed in a hidden room, for the right person to find at the right time. Once all had been completed the priests left the tomb, sweeping the floor as they left. Outside the mourners shared a funeral feast in honour of the great Pharaoh Atem, who's reign as pharaoh was far too short.
That was the funeral of the great Pharaoh Atem, but his time in the world was not over. 5,000 years later Atem's time would come again…