What is the name of the ancient Egyptian ritual that restored a mummy's senses in the afterlife?

The Opening of the Mouth was the ancient Egyptian ritual believed to restore a mummy’s senses in the afterlife.

Priests performed the ceremony on a mummy, statue, or funerary image so the deceased could symbolically breathe, speak, see, hear, eat, and drink again. These abilities were essential for receiving offerings, reciting spells, and navigating the dangers of the Duat, the Egyptian realm of the dead.

The rite involved purification, spoken formulas, offerings, and ritual tools. A ceremonial adze touched the mouth and eyes, while the peseshkef—a forked blade originally associated with childbirth—connected the ceremony with ideas of birth and rebirth. A priest wearing a jackal mask could represent Anubis during parts of the proceedings.

The ritual is documented from the Old Kingdom through the Roman period and appears in funerary traditions including the Pyramid Texts and the Book of the Dead. The Book of the Dead was a collection of spells, not the name of this ritual; the Weighing of the Heart was a separate judgment scene.