How were the wealthy mummified?
The best and most complicated mummification technique was practised from the New Kingdom to the start of the Late Period (about 1550 BCE - 664 BCE). The first step in this technique involved the removal and preservation of most of the internal organs. The heart, representing the centre of all knowledge and emotions, was usually left untouched inside the body while the brain was often thrown away. The body was then treated with natron (a carbonate salt collected from the edges of desert lakes) which acted as a drying agent, absorbing water from the body so as to prevent further decay. After 40 days, the natron was removed from the skin and the body cavities were filled with linen, natron pouches, herbs, sawdust, sand or chopped straw. The skin and first few layers of linen bandages were then covered with a resinous coating before the rest of the wrapping took place. The whole process lasted about 70 days.
Cups, jugs, pots, bottles and jars used in the embalming process
National Museum of Antiquities, Leiden
© National Museum of Antiquities, the Netherlands
Jars, bottles and cups held various products used in the embalming process. These included spiced palm wine for washing the body, natron and other salts for drying the body, and a variety of oils and gum resins to cover the body and linen.
Mummy label
Wood
Late Roman Period (about 200-300 CE)
From Achmim
National Museum of Antiquities, Leiden
© National Museum of Antiquities, the Netherlands
Labels were tied around the necks of mummies for identification purposes and were inscribed with the dead persons' details and burial location. They were particularly common during the Roman Period as increased travel meant many people died away from home and had their body transported back there for burial.
Knife, Flint
Neolithic Period (about 5000 BCE - 4000 BCE)
From Thebes
National Museum of Antiquities, Leiden
© National Museum of Antiquities, the Netherlands
Knives were used to cut through the abdomen of the dead body and extract the internal organs.
