Mummies In Ancient Egypt

The process begins where the body is taken into an “ibu”, a tent also known as the “place of purification”. That is where the embalmers wash the body in palm wine and rinse it off with water from the Nile. The next step is when one of the men makes a small cut in the left side of the body and removes the liver, lungs, stomach and also intestines. It is important to remove these internal organs because they are one of the fastest to decompose. These internal organs are then washed and packed in natron, a mineral salt that contains hydrated sodium carbonate. The natron will dry out the organs. The heart is not taken out because Egyptians believed that the heart was the center of intelligence and feeling and the body will need it in the afterlife.

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 Egyptian civilization was based on religion. Their belief in the rebirth after death became their driving force behind their funeral practices. Death was simply a temporary interruption, rather than an end to life, and that eternal life could be ensured by means of worship to the gods, preservation of the physical form thru mummification, substantial ceremonies and detailed burial policies and procedures. Even though many today have varying views of an afterlife, many of the funerary practices that originated in Egypt can be seen in present day funeral services.

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

The mummification process is done in two phases, the first being embalming and the latter being wrapping and burial. There was a special place for embalming to take place known as the ibu. The ibu was called the place of purification. The first thing the embalmers do is to clean his body with aromatic palm wine and rinse it with Nile water. The next step involves removing all but a select few of the internal organs. The process used to remove the internal organs changed over time and varied with the wealth of the body in question. The heart was left in the body because of its necessity as the focal point of mental and emotional stability. The body’s fluids and rags used in this phase are left with the body for its burial. The body is left for a period of

Since they believed in the afterlife, during mummification they would put food, clothing, jewelry, pets, and sometimes the person's loved one would offer a sacrifice and be put in the sarcophagus with

Ancient Egyptians believed in the afterlife and that a dead person should be buried with everything they would need for their next life. Poor people were usually buried straight into the sand. But rich people and pharaohs were buried in large tombs and pyramids. In these chambers many objects were placed for the dead person to use in the next life.

In fact, they were not even the first. Some 2,000 years prior to the beginning of Egyptian mummification, the Chinchorro people of South America were elaborately preserving the bodies of their deceased (Chatterjee et. al.). However, the South American process was different than of the Egyptian. While the Egyptians used one method, the Chinchorro people used at least three, the two most common being the Black Mummy and the Red Mummy. The Black Mummy technique was used first at around 5,000 BC to 3,000 BC. To begin, the head, arms, and legs of the deceased were removed. Heat was used to dry the body and it was completely skinned. The brain was removed by cutting the head in half, then the skull was packed and sewn back together, as were the other appendages. Sticks were used to support the body and it was packed with materials such as clay and feathers to fill it out. Finally, a white paste was spread over the body. From the years 2,500 BC to 2,000 BC, the Red Mummy technique was utilized. In this process, the organs were removed through incisions and the body dried. The head was removed in order to remove the brain. Similar to the Black Mummy method, the body was stuffed and sticks were used for support. It was reassembled and any incisions were fixed. Each mummy was adorned with a wig made out of real human hair held in place by black clay. Finally, the entire body, besides the head, was painted

Imagine digging down into the dry desert of Egypt and then suddenly finding a body. Once finding the first body, others soon appear from beneath the sand. This is how many of the earliest Egyptian mummies were discovered. No tomb, no coffin, yet a perfectly preserved body. Before the thought of doing proper burials, this is how the Egyptians buried their deceased. However over time and trial and error, the mummification process that people know today soon emerged allowing historians around the world a peek into the past.. It became a skilled practice and a passage to the underworld.. It makes it hard to believe that this carefully and perfectly executed process began as an accident.

The brain was removed by carefully inserting special hooked instruments up through the nostrils in order to pull out bits of brain tissue. It was a hard job, one which a wrong move could easily disfigure the face. The priest then removed the organs of the gut and chest through a cut usually made on the left side of the abdomen, (except the heart) and stored in canopic jars. The skulls of the dead would then be filled with a thick plant-paste. It wasn't until the Middle Kingdom(2050 BC and 1652 BC) that the process began to take on a more advanced form. After removing organs and the brain ,the caretakers would use natural salts to remove moisture from the bodies of the dead, drying out flesh and bone.The emptied bodies were then covered in salt to

The funeral practices of the ancient Egyptians were elaborate to say the least. The Egyptians believed that after they died they would go to the afterlife. Which was referred to as The Field of Reeds. Which was a perfect reflection of the life lived on earth. They also believed they would bring their belonging with them. The Egyptians developed “mummification.” Mummification was a way for them to preserve there bodies. During the special 10-week embalming procedure they would remove all the internal organs except for the heart. They then would stuff the body with preservatives. The stomach, lungs, intestines and liver were all embalmed separately with the brain being discarded. The embalmers would then wrap the body in fine linens.

The things ancient Egyptians did to corpses can be described as both interesting and revolting. Saying that Egyptians believed in life after death is putting it mildly, they had 11 steps just for entering the afterlife, not to mention they had different gods for each organ. Ancient Egyptian mummies are an important part in history due to who they were made by, how and why they were made.

The body was then washed and the liver, lungs, stomach and intestines were then removed so it could be embalmed separately. These organs were then placed in a container called canopic jars and were kept with the mummified body. Egyptians believed the brain had no use, therefore it was then removed from the skull through the nose using a metal hook. The heart was then removed from the body wrapped in linen and replaced in the chest. Egyptians believed the heart was the center of wisdom and good deeds and once one dies, the dead will travel into the afterlife and their heart would be

The Egyptians believed in life after death. They thought that the soul of the deceased was traveling to the beyond where he met Osiris the god of death. That is why when he died, his body went through a process called mummification. But only the richest Egyptians could commission their mummification, for it was a very costly and lengthy process, lasting more than seven months and taking place two or three days after his death. The body was taken to the embalmers, who worked on the banks of the Nile, because water was needed in abundance.

The Egyptians believe that if they preserved a died person body by doing a mummy process then they the could have a great time in the afterlife. They started this process by washing the dead body with special types of oils, and removing all types of organs. They lastly wrap up the body.