The Successful Process Of Mummification In The Ancient Egypt

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.

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

Funerary customs are practises and beliefs that the Ancient Egyptians used to respect their dead, and preserve their bodies in preparation for the afterlife which was a universe that mirrored their life on Earth, where they would live with the Gods in eternal Egypt. The body of the deceased could be mummified, which was where a body is dried, packed with minerals and wrapped in linen cloths, whereas another form would be embalming which is the use of salts and spices to preserve a body and took 70 days in total. However, there were many tests and dangers on the way to the afterlife, including fire-filled lakes, poisonous snakes and executioners. Because of this, there were many ceremonies and tests to see if the deceased person was worthy of the Afterlife. Such as the opening of the mouth ceremony which was when a priest touched parts of the deceased body at a funeral in order for the

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.

In ancient Egypt after you died your body had to be mummified to be able to

The liver was placed in a jar with a human shaped lid depicting the god Imset. The lungs were placed in a jar with the depiction of a baboon’s head representing Hapi. The stomach was placed in a jar represented by the head of a jackal for Duamutef. Lastly the intestines and anything left were placed in a jar associated with Kebechsenef represented as a falcon. In later years the internal organs were just cleaned and placed back within the body, the Canopic jars were still buried with the deceased as a symbolic gesture of the protection of the organs (Discovering Ancient Egypt hieroglyphs pharaoh’s pyramids).

The earliest of mummification occurred through natural circumstances. Bodies placed in desert graves which were shallow. The combination of the shallow, sand

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.

Ancient Egyptians believed that the ka, or the soul, lived on after death but it needed the mummified body of the deceased or a resembling statue. For instance, the text indicates that it was highly prioritized to provide a comfortable home for the ka of a departed ruler. Therefore, the royal dead were stored in superstructures Mastabas or pyramids. These edifices were incredibly elaborate in design and served the purpose of pleasing their gods and to warrant good-will for their

The three different levels of mummification were using a crooked iron tool, syringes with the oil, and purge. During the level on which will be the crooked iron tool, the procedure was to “drawn out the brain through the nostrils, extracting it partly thus and partly by pouring in drugs; after this with a sharp stone of Ethiopia they make a cut along the side and take out the whole contents of the belly, and when they cleared out the cavity and cleansed it with palm-wine they cleanse it again with spices pounded up; then they fill the belly with pure myrrh pounded up and with cassia and other spices except frankincense, and set it together again” (Herodotus). After seventy days they wash the body, then they wrap the corpse with fine linen.

A few of the steps to making a mummy can be quite disturbing. When someone passes away, their bodies can be mummified. The egyptians believed the body was important in the person’s next life. First, the dead body is cleaned with natron salt dissolved in water, and rubbed in oil perfumes. Next, the body is brought to