An Ancient Egyptian Hunting Ritual by Eberhard Otto
This document delves into animal sacrifice, specifically the slaughter of the upper Egyptian bull in the Opening of the Mouth and Eyes ritual. In the rite, a goose and goat are lassoed, beheaded, and offered to the statue being opened. Then what is named Upper Egyptian bull is shot in the head with a bow and arrow, or alternatively lassoed, and the foreleg and heart are removed by the ceremonial butcher to be offered to the statue. Other sources like the temple of Edfu Otto discusses the mythic hunting ritual that is the origin of this sacrifice. In myth, Har sa’ A’sat Horus son of Isis hunts in the desert of Upper Egypt. His prey, the moon god DjaHwtya – Thoth in the form of a wild Upper Egyptian bull, who has taken his eye the moon. As Thoth lay dying, Isis, in the form of a great Kite bird kneels and whispers in his ear, “Your two lips have done that against you. Does your mouth still open?” The angered Horus rends the foreleg and heart from Thoth, thus taking the Eye from him, and his own moon eye is restored
