Abstrakt
The article is a preliminary report on an assemblage of copper vessels found in the Sixth-Dynasty tomb of the official Inti at the Abusir South cemetery (towards the end of the period of c. 2305-2118 BC). The most important assemblage of full-size and miniaturized copper vessels comes from Shaft A of the complex with the burial of Inti Pepyankh, probably a relative or a client of Inti.
The vessels contained a written reference to the ritual of funerary repast (pr.t-xrw), and their role in the ritual is explored in the article. The assemblage from this tomb is studied also from the point of view of regularized production of artefacts.
It is then compared to other assemblages of copper vessels from Sixth Dynasty Egypt connected to the funerary repast and the Opening of the Mouth ritual. On the basis of the collected evidence, it is argued that the scope of vessels present in the burial equipment was similar to the vessels used in contemporary temples.
The occurrence of the same types of vessels in several specimens in full-size as well as miniaturized versions is explained as a possible trace of the agency of different participants in the provision of the burial equipment.