Opening of the mouth: Did you mean...?

Artist's impression of the Opening of the Mouth ritual being performed outside of a tomb in the time of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt. This ritual was performed right before the deceased is brought inside the tomb. Artwork by Marek Szyszko...

Possibly being overjoyed by the tales of mythical exploits of Heracles, Semiramis, the fabled queen of Assyria, Cyrus, King of Persia and so on, Alexander the Great set out from the tiny kingdom of Macedon for a daring adventure, unheard...

Upon death, ancient Greek culture called for placing a coin, or obol, in the mouth of the deceased to pay Charon for rowing him/her across the River Styx to the afterlife.

This vase is decorated with horses and a host of filling motifs. Most of the subjects derive from the Geometric tradition that continued to influence early Orientalising workshops in the 7th Century BCE. From Skyros, Sporades, 675-650 BCE...

Painting depicting the opening session of the Estates-General of 1789. By Auguste Couder, 1839. Museum of the History of France, Versailles.

Psyche Opening the Golden Box, painting by John William Waterhouse, 1904.

The opening of the Estates-General of 1789, on 5 May, in the Salle des Menus Plaisirs in Versailles, engraving by Isidore-Stanislas Helman, 1789. Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris.

An illustration by Louis Haghe showing Queen Victoria (r. 1837-1901) opening the Great Exhibition of 1851 in the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London. (Victoria & Albert Museum, London)

Opening ceremony of the First Ottoman Parliament at the Dolmabahçe Palace in 1876 CE. The First Constitutional Era lasted for only two years until 1878 CE. The Ottoman Constitution and Parliament were restored 30 years later with the Young...

Page 1r of the Codex Palatinus Germanicus 367, showing the opening lines of the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle (Livländische Reimchronik), c. 1415 CE. Though the original version of the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle is believed to have been written...