Mummies: The Preserved Corpses of Egypt
To this day, we know mummies as things that scare us on Hallowe'en night. But what are they really? Mummification was the process of preserving a corpse to save it for the afterlife. The Egyptians believed that a person had three "spirits" within their body. These three spirits were called Ba, Ka, and Akh. The Ba and Ka were the person's soul, and the Ba left the body and floated around while the Ka stayed in the body. It was believed that Akh was the ghost.
Ancient Egyptians had a very long and meticulous process for mummifying a corpse. First of all, before they even started the mummification process, they would have priests recite prayers and attempt to revive the dead. Once they were sure that they couldn't revive the body, the Egyptians would then take the body to the Ibu, a place where they could wash and purify the body.
Afterwards, once the body is clean, the body is taken to an embalmer's workshop, where the organs were removed and put into canopic jars. There were usually four canopic jars: one for the stomach, lungs, liver, and intestines. The heart was left in the body, as it was believed to be where all the emotions were. The brain was believed to be useless, so it was removed through the nose via a long hook. They would stick the long hook up the nose of the body and pull the brain out in little pieces.
After the organs were removed, the body was packed with a salt called "natron" for forty days. Natron is a salt that is found in the Nile river, and is made out of sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, sodium chloride, and sodium sulfate. The sodium carbonate would dry out the body, and the bicarbonate increased the pH levels so that the bacteria could not live off of the corpse. Once the forty days had passed, the insides were filled with linen, natron, sawdust, and resin.
The next and final step would be to wrap bandages around the mummy. The linen bandages would be long pieces of linen with scriptures written in hieroglyphs on them. As they wrapped the linen bandages around the mummy, they would place amulets and jewellery on the mummy. Amulets would protect the akh on its journey through the afterlife. The linen bandages would also be attached with some resin so that it didn't fall off. Once all the linen bandages and amulets were one with the body, the ancient Egyptians would put a copy of the Book of the Dead with the mummy.
The Book of the Dead was a piece of papyrus paper that had several "sins" that a Egyptian must not commit in their life. One example would be that "I have not committed murder". The mummy would need this for his journey in the afterlife. Once everything was ready, a mask was placed over the head and the mummy was placed into a sarcophagus. Richer people had several sarcophaguses, put into each other so that it looked like one big sarcophagus. Once the mummification process was done, the Egyptians could now have the Opening of the Mouth ceremony, and the mummy could undergo the Trial of Osiris.
Ancient Egyptians had a very long and meticulous process for mummifying a corpse. First of all, before they even started the mummification process, they would have priests recite prayers and attempt to revive the dead. Once they were sure that they couldn't revive the body, the Egyptians would then take the body to the Ibu, a place where they could wash and purify the body.
Afterwards, once the body is clean, the body is taken to an embalmer's workshop, where the organs were removed and put into canopic jars. There were usually four canopic jars: one for the stomach, lungs, liver, and intestines. The heart was left in the body, as it was believed to be where all the emotions were. The brain was believed to be useless, so it was removed through the nose via a long hook. They would stick the long hook up the nose of the body and pull the brain out in little pieces.
After the organs were removed, the body was packed with a salt called "natron" for forty days. Natron is a salt that is found in the Nile river, and is made out of sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, sodium chloride, and sodium sulfate. The sodium carbonate would dry out the body, and the bicarbonate increased the pH levels so that the bacteria could not live off of the corpse. Once the forty days had passed, the insides were filled with linen, natron, sawdust, and resin.
The next and final step would be to wrap bandages around the mummy. The linen bandages would be long pieces of linen with scriptures written in hieroglyphs on them. As they wrapped the linen bandages around the mummy, they would place amulets and jewellery on the mummy. Amulets would protect the akh on its journey through the afterlife. The linen bandages would also be attached with some resin so that it didn't fall off. Once all the linen bandages and amulets were one with the body, the ancient Egyptians would put a copy of the Book of the Dead with the mummy.
The Book of the Dead was a piece of papyrus paper that had several "sins" that a Egyptian must not commit in their life. One example would be that "I have not committed murder". The mummy would need this for his journey in the afterlife. Once everything was ready, a mask was placed over the head and the mummy was placed into a sarcophagus. Richer people had several sarcophaguses, put into each other so that it looked like one big sarcophagus. Once the mummification process was done, the Egyptians could now have the Opening of the Mouth ceremony, and the mummy could undergo the Trial of Osiris.