Ancient Egyptian Mummification Beliefs

The Process of Mummification The earliest ancient Egyptians buried their dead in small pits in the

Ancient Egyptian embalming was a very sacred process performed by experienced embalmers. Ancient Egyptians used to bury the deceased underground, but because of that they decayed faster in a coffin when they aren’t exposed to the hot sand of the desert. That is how they developed the process of embalming to preserve the bodies.

The Egyptians also worried very much about the after life and made many preparations before the afterlife. There graves were very important to them, and they also did much to keep them from decaying after they passed. That is why they had the idea of mummification to allow them to not decay long after they passed. We also pay a lot of money to allow us to keep from decaying on our burials and the coffins.

Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece both believed in life after death, though the process in which they follow that belief differ greatly. The Greeks believed that at the moment of death the spirit leaves the body in the form of a little gust of wind or a puff of breath. The Greeks believed in proper burial rights that were performed in three parts, and the relatives mostly women are the ones that conduct these rituals for the deceased. Much like the modern world these rituals consist of the first step; laying out the body to be dressed, the second funeral procession, and the third step was the cremation of the body. Unlike the Greeks the Egyptians developed a process in which they prepared and preserved the dead for the afterlife, known as mummification. This process is believed to have been the purpose of the Egyptians famous pyramids, believed to be the stairs that would lead the Pharaohs to their kingdom in the afterlife. Artifacts are buried in their tombs such as gold, wine, and sculptures to accompany the dead in life after death.

The tombs had two main functions. The first function was a place that provided an eternal resting place in which the body could lay protected from thieves and scavengers. The second function of the tomb was a place where cults and ritual acts could be performed to ensure eternal life (Taylor, 2001:136). The body of the person was buried along with their belongings in the tomb to ensure the individual had all the proper materials needed for the afterlife. The Egyptians usually did this because “Tombs were constructed to mirror aspects of the afterlife” (Olson, 2009). These tombs were not only a place where bodies of a deceased lay; it was also a place where rituals would take place. One ritual that was done on the bodies was the ‘Opening of the Mouth’. This was a burial ritual that “accompanied the placement of funerary goods in a tomb- and was a necessary step in the deceased’s rebirth” (Olson, 2009). One very important service that had to be done was the mummification process in which the removal of organs

Mummification is an ancient egyptian burial rite that is centered around preparing the soul of the deceased for the afterlife. There are multiple steps involved in the process of mummification and several objects with different functions used to perform this burial rite. Mummification is centered around the thought that death was merely physical and your soul continued living, with the ability to take distinct action, in the afterlife. Everyone desired to be mummified, however the extent of the mummification depended on the wealth of the family involved. Mummification was also generally not a rite reserved for criminals and lawbreakers since the idea behind mummification is for the deceased to have an easier afterlife.

The Mummification was made so people could save their body for the afterlife. Mummification consisted of the body being preserved with salts until all moisture of the body was gone. Second the oils and resins were rubbed down the body. Third they glued lenin onto the body. Fourth the mummy was placed on a wooden board then was given a pouch resembling many religious things.

The Egyptians developed mummification to preserved bodies for the next life and because living relatives would visit tombs to honour the

Egyptians buried the dead in the ground and where there are little air and lots of heat and sand which dehydrated the bodies, resulting in the mummified body. During this process of natural decaying, the odor of this would smell and attract animals who would then eat the already decaying body. To prevent this, they created coffins, or boxes, to put the bodies in. Not only did they create coffins, but they also created tombs which they filled with items for the person to use when they reach the afterlife. However, they realized that these bodies were decaying as well. To preserve the bodies for the afterlife, the Egyptians created a process which included embalming, and wrapping the body in linens. This is known today as mummification.

The Ancient Egyptians had a very specific and uncommon way that they buried the dead. The way that the Egyptians buried their dead would be very uncommon in modern day society. There are many steps in this burial process. Each burial had a system or process of steps that they followed to lay down fellow members of their society. The process of mummification had many steps.

In this tradition, people would be mummified after death. Once this threshold had been crossed, a person's spirit or ba could be manifested in many places at once. After judgment, which could be cheated with magic, a person's ba could travel with Ra or rest with Osiris in the underworld (Egyptian 119). There were many different dangers to the dead and having a complete body with which to return to for rest was very important for the Egyptians. Human remains were not the objects of reverence and worship as Christian saints are these days.

The Egyptians also regarded the concept of life highly, even after death◊2. This is shown in their extensive efforts to preserve the body of their pharaoh. Ancient Egyptians mummified their pharaohs because they believed their pharaohs ruled even after death. Everyone, of all classes, planned

In Ancient egyptian time it was known that a Pharaoh (an egyptian ruler or king) would be embalmed and mummified. During this the time when a pharaoh died there would be something called embalming where the body of the deceased was

Mummy derives from the word “mum” from Persians, meaning wax. Therefore the word mummy is defined as an embalmed corpse that appears wax-like since embalmers tried to keep dead bodies as intact as they possibly could. The earliest known way to bury people during Ancient Egypt was known as the early graves (c.5000 BC). The graves were rectangular shaped in which the corpse laid in a fetal position. People were not mummified but afterlife was still believed.

The most important process of the funeral ceremony in ancient Egypt was the mummification of the body. In preparation, the body is embalmed and ‘purified’ using strong-smelling palm wine and water from the depths of the Nile. An incision is made on the left side of the body to extricate internal organs, which