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 Background Information - Mummification
Page Contents
The Ancient Egyptians developed a complex method of preserving a corpse called mummification. The main reason why Ancient Egyptians took such pains to preserve a corpse was to ensure that the deceased became immortal and joined Osiris (the god of rebirth) in the afterlife. They believed that the deceased's life force (ka) met with its spirit or soul (ba) in its corpse after death. Without a recognisable body in which to meet, the person would be unable to live forever (ankh) in the afterlife. Originally mummification was a natural process whereby the gutted body of the deceased was wrapped in animal skins or fibre matting and buried in or left out on the hot dry sands of the Egyptian desert. The body dried out naturally in the heat and aridity typical of the area. Over time mummification became ritualised. Usually only high status Ancient Egyptians could afford to be ritually mummified and entombed in sarcophagi and pyramids. The rest of the population was left to be 'climatically' mummified. As a consequence, fewer remains of lower status people exist today because 'climatic' mummification was less effective than the complex mummification process used on royalty, priests and high officials. Ritual mummification was a long and formal process that took approximately seventy days to complete. It was a sacred ceremony performed by priests which involved the incantation of many embalming spells during the different stages of the procedure. Firstly, the brain and some of the internal organs of the deceased were removed using special instruments. The removed body parts were cleaned and mummified, then placed into four special jars called canopic jars. Each canopic jar had a lid with the head of a god. Imsety (a male headed god) guarded the liver. Qebehsenuef, (a falcon-headed god) held the intestines. Hapy (a baboon-headed god) looked after the lungs and Duamutef (a jackal-headed god) guarded the stomach. The heart remained in the body as it was believed to be important in a ceremony that took place in the afterlife. The ceremony involved a jury of gods deciding if the mummy had been a good person while alive. The heart would be weighed against a feather, the symbol of truth. If the heart was too heavy with Earthly sins and did not balance with the feather, it was thrown to a monster god called Ammit, who ate it. If the heart did balance with the feather of truth, the mummy passed into immortality. The next stage in the mummification procedure involved dehydrating the body for approximately 40 days with a salt compound called natron. The excess body fluids were drained away and then the body cavity was stuffed with linen, sand or sawdust. The skin was anointed with special herbal preparations and then coated with molten resin to further preserve it. Sometimes, if it was a high status mummy, malachite eyes were added and gold fingernails. Finally the body was carefully wrapped in linen bandages and then in as many as seven shrouds, each carefully over-bandaged with strips of natron treated linen. During this stage, sacred amulets were incorporated into the bindings to provide protective powers. This part of the procedure took 35 days to complete. Once bandaged, the body was placed in a decorative coffin and returned to the family of the deceased for burial.
The Ancient Egyptians also mummified many animals with the same care they took with people. Favourite pets were occasionally mummified and put in the tomb with their owners to keep them company in the afterlife. But most animals were embalmed for religious reasons. To mummify a cat, the embalmer began by removing its internal organs. The cat's body cavity was then filled with dry earth or sand. To produce a compact mummy, the embalmer laid the cat's front legs by its side and tucked its back legs up against its belly. The cat's tail was then curled up between its feet. Finally the cat was wrapped in bandages that had been soaked in natron or treated with resin. The bandages of the mummified cat were then decorated with symbolic designs. Sometimes the cat mummy was placed in a special cat-shaped sarcophagus.
Natron is a naturally occurring salt compound. It largely consists of sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate and is known for its desiccating properties. It is found in several parts of Egypt and probably accumulated as an evaporate on the shores and beds of ancient lakes. In later Ancient Egyptian time it was 'owned' by the royal family and was used in purification and mummification rituals. However, prior to royal ownership it was mixed with oils and talc and used for daily ablutions, serving as the ancient version of toothpaste and soap.
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