Mummification

Tuya and her husband Yuya, mother and father-in-laws of Amenophis III, grandfather of Pharaoh Tutankhamun
Mummification in ancient Egypt was a very long and expensive process. From start to finish, it took about seventy days to embalm a body. Since the Egyptians believed that mummification was essential for passage to the afterlife, people were mummified and buried as well as they could possibly afford. High-ranking officials, priests and other nobles who had served the pharaoh and his queen had fairly elaborate burials. The pharaohs, who were believed to become gods when they died, had the most magnificent burial of all. In the case of a royal or noble burial, the embalmers set up workshops near the tomb of the mummy. Mummification consisted of many steps. First, the body was washed and ritually purified. The next step was to remove the deceased person's inner organs. A slit was cut into the left side of the body so that the embalmers could remove the intestines, the liver, the stomach and the lungs. Each of these organs was embalmed using natron, which served to dry out the organs and discourage bacteria from decaying the tissues. The organs were then individually wrapped using long strips of linen and placed in canopic jars. The lids of these jars were fashioned after the four sons of Horus, who were each entrusted with protecting a particular organ. After the removal of the inner organs, the body cavity was stuffed with natron. The brain was then removed through the nose using long hooks. Since the ancient Egyptians considered the brain unimportant, it was probably thrown away. The body was then placed on a slanted embalming table and completely covered with natron. This allowed fluids to drip away as the body slowly dried out. This part of the process took about forty days, after which the natron was removed, inside and out, to reveal a dried, shrunken body. After another cleaning, the body was rubbed with ungents to aid in preserving the mummy's skin. The head and body cavity were stuffed with packing. The mummy was then prepared for bandaging. First, the embalming cut in the side of the body was sewn up and covered with a patching depicting the protective eye of Horus. The body was adorned with gold, jewels and protective amulets. Fingers and toes were covered with protective gold caps and individually wrapped with long, narrow strips of linen. Arms and legs were also wrapped, then the entire body was wrapped to a depth of about twenty layers. The embalmers used resin to glue the layers of wrappings together. The wrapped head was covered with a mummy mask. Finally, the last layer of bandages went on and was given one last coating of resin. The mummy was the ready for burial. Once the mummy was finally prepared, it was time for the funeral. The mummy and its canopic jars were transported by sled from the embalming tent to the tomb. People were hired to demonstrate their grief by crying and throwing dust on their hair. At the site of the tomb, religious ceremonies were held to prepare the dead for the afterlife. In particular, the Opening of the Mouth ceremony was believed to allow the mummy to see, hear, eat and drink in the spirit world.
Archaeologists have uncovered a 5,000-year-old wooden coffin in the desert near Cairo to find a pile of bones which shows the oldest evidence yet found of human mummification in Egypt. "This is...the oldest evidence of mummification in Egypt," said Dr Zahi Hawass, director of the country's Supreme Council of Antiquities. The coffin was found in one of more than 20 mud-brick tombs, which Hawass said belonged to officials who had lived between 3100 BC to 2890 BC, under Egypt's 1st Dynasty. The bones were covered with a resin used in the mummification process and remnants of skin. "We are continuing our excavations to reveal more about the tombs of the officials who ruled Egypt under the kings of dynasty one," Hawass said. Egyptian mummification techniques developed over the centuries. Ancient Egyptians are known to have embalmed bodies by between 2613BC and 2494 BC. Methods used between 1567 BC and 1200 BC were the most effective at preserving the dead, and the remains of King Ramses II, who ruled during that period, have been displayed at the Egyptian Museum. Most elaborate were techniques used between 1085- BC and 945 BC, when the dried, washed and wrapped body of a mummy was strapped with cloth for protection and covered with jewellery to ward off evil.


A Pharaoh's funeral procession


Home
Next Page