Ancient Egyptian Offering Formula - Structure of The Offering Formula

Structure of The Offering Formula

The offering formula always begins with the phrase:

ḥtp dỉ nsw

This phrase comes from Old Egyptian, and probably means "an offering given by the king." Because the king was seen as an intermediary between the people of Egypt and the gods, the offering was made through him.

Next the formula names a god of the dead and several of his epithets, usually Osiris, Anubis, or (rarely) Geb or another deity. The following phrase is a typical invocation of Osiris:

wsỉr nb ḏdw, nṯr ˁȝ, nb ȝbḏw

which means "Osiris, the lord of Busiris, the great god, the lord of Abydos." There was apparently no set rule about what epithets were used, however "Lord of Busiris," "Great God," and "Lord of Abydos" were very common. Also frequent were:

nb ỉmnt nb nḥḥ

meaning "Lord of the West, Lord of Eternity"
Anubis is seen less frequently than Osiris, and usually read,

ỉnpw, ḫnty sḥ nṯr tpy ḏw=f

meaning "Anubis, he who is in front of his divine booth, he who is on his mountain."

After the list of deities and their titles, the formula proceeds with a list of the ḫrt-prw, or "invocation offerings." The list is always preceded by the phrase:

or

dỉ=f prt-ḫrw or dỉ=sn prt-ḫrw

which means "He (or they, in the second example) give(s) invocation offerings." After this phrase, the list of offerings follows; for example:

dỉ=f prt-ḫrw t ḥnqt, kȝw ȝpdw, šs mnḥt ḫt nbt nfrt wˁbt ˁnḫt nṯr ỉm

meaning "He gives invocation offerings of bread, beer, oxen, birds, alabaster, clothing, and every good and pure thing upon which a god lives." Sometimes the text at the end of the list is replaced with the phrase:

ḫt nbt nfrt wˁbt ddt pt qmȝ(t) tȝ ỉnnt ḥˁp(ỉ) ˁnḫt nṯr ỉm

Meaning "Every good and pure thing that the sky gives, the earth creates, the inundation brings, on which the god lives."

The last part of the offering formula lists the name and titles of the recipient of the invocation offerings. For example:

n kȝ n ỉmȝḫy s-n-wsrt, mȝˁ-ḫrw

which means "for the ka of the revered Senwosret, True of Voice."