Vessels From the Place of Truth by Mari Eckstein Gower

Vessels From the Place of Truth is inspired by contents of ancient Egyptian tombs. A mummy book contains an imaginary scribe who is conveying information from the 'Book of the Dead' and the 'Hymn to Osiris.' The texts and images contained in those books were intended to help the deceased perform the rituals and spells to successfully complete his/her journey beside the sun god as he completes the nightly trials of the Netherworld. Along with the mummy, the tomb contained four canonic jars which held preserved parts of the deceased's body, vital for his/her afterlife. I have made my own interpretations of these jars, with words and images from texts such as "the Book of the Dead." The fifth book contains information about the images I've used and translations of the hieroglyphs. The work contains one accordion book and five drum leaf booklets wrapped in a linen "mummy cloth," all presented in a clamshell box.