4. Head of mummy of Sety I, Cairo Museum. 2055 



the noble's mummy sat up and warned him of the con- 

 sequences of being its possessor, but Setne persisted. 

 The mummy, in response, challenged him to a game of 

 senet for its ownership. Setne lost round one of the 

 game, and the mummy whacked him over the head 

 with the game board, driving him into the ground up to 

 his knees. Setne lost round two as well, and again the 

 mummy whacked him over the head, driving him into 

 the ground up to his chest. Round three was also a vic- 



tory for the mummy, who whacked Setne a third time, 

 burying him to his chin. At this point, Setne called to 

 his brother to bring him his magic amulets. With these, 

 the loser was able to pull himself out of the ground and 

 escape with the magic scroll. 



After a series of adventures in which he suffered 

 the calamities foretold by the mummy, the penitent 

 Setne returned to the tomb and relinquished the 

 troublesome scroll. He also found himself obliged to 

 travel to Coptos for the bodies of the noble's wife and 

 child and arrange for their reburial at the noble's side. 



This story shows that the ancient Egyptians 

 viewed the Afterlife as but an extension of the world of 

 the living. The Afterlife was very real and concrete, 

 and contact between the deceased and the living was 

 very possible. The mummies of the deceased were not 

 to be feared. Rather, they were deceased ancestors, 

 relatives, and neighbors, living on in another post- 

 mortem existence. This belief system about ancestors is 

 distinctly African. Other evidence of contact between 

 mummies and the living is found in a class of docu- 

 ments called "letters to the dead" — texts written in ink 

 on bowls left at the offering niches or tables with food 

 or drink for the deceased. 



In such letters, relatives of the deceased com- 

 municated with their ancestors, possibly expressing a 

 need for help in a difficult situation, requesting aid 

 against a personal foe, or responding to a visitation 

 from the deceased relative or ancestor. In one such let- 

 ter a widower remonstrates with his deceased wife who, 

 he states, has been visiting him since he began think- 

 ing about remarriage. He assures her that he has per- 

 formed all the requisite burial ceremonies and had 

 faithfully kept up the offerings on schedule. In another 

 visitation tale, "An Egyptian Ghost Story," a high 



5. Drawing based on painting of Opening of the Mouth ritual, from the tomb of Roy, Dynasty XIX {ca. 1200 bc ). 91016 



19 



