Download Egyptian Mummification

Egyptian Mummification
How to Mummify a Body in
Ancient Egypt
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Things You’ll Need:
Body
Canopic Jars
Linens
Cloth
Coffin
Salt
Resin
Mummification Process
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Step 1: Announcement of Death
Step 2: Embalming the Body
Step 3: Removal of Brain
Step 4: Removal of Internal Organs
Step 5: Drying Out Process
Step 6: Wrapping of the Body
Step 7: Final Procession
Instructions
Remove internal organs. The
ancient Egyptians realized that the bacteria
that lived in organs caused deterioration.
These had to be removed to make sure
the body would maintain. Important organs
were placed in canopic jars and kept with
the body.
Canopic Jars
Imset protected the liver.
He had the head of a human.
Duamutef looked after the stomach.
He had the head of a jackal.
Ha'py watched over the lungs.
He had the head of a baboon.
Qebehsenuef looked over the intestines.
He had the head of a falcon.
Arms and Legs
• These appendages became very shriveled
and quite thin as they dried out. During
21st Dynasty, padding was added under
the skin to make them look more life-like.
The padding was added through a number
of incisions made in the skin.
Brains
• During the 18th Dynasty, the brain began
to be removed, most often through the
nostril (occasionally through an eye socket
or a hole drilled into the skull). After
removal, the brain cavity was filled with
sawdust, resin, and/or resin-soaked linen.
Eyes
• The eyeballs were often pushed into eye
socket and covered with linen pads.
Sometimes eyes were painted onto the
linen, but eventually the Egyptians began
to use stone or glass eyes. Some
mummies received onion skins and
occasionally whole onions for eyes.
Fingers and Toes
• During the New Kingdom, finger- and
toenails were actually tied onto the body
so that they wouldn't fall off during the
drying period.
Intestines
• The intestines were usually placed in
canopic jar. When mummymakers
misplaced (or ruined) the internal organs
of one mummy, a rope was substituted for
the intestines in a canopic jar.
Kidneys
• The kidneys were usually not removed.
There is no word in ancient Egyptian
language for kidneys, so if they were
sometimes removed, it may well have
been accidental.
Liver , Lungs and Stomach
• These were usually placed in canopic jar.
Mouth
• The mouth was sometimes packed with
material (such as linen or even wax), and
the tongue was sometimes covered with a
tongue plate, often made from gold.
Nostrils
• The nostrils were often plugged, especially
by the New Kingdom. Resin covered with
onion skin was put in nostrils of Ramesses
IV. Mummymakers plugged nostrils with
wax during the 21st Dynasty. One
mummy's nose was even plugged with
peppercorns during the 21st Dynasty.
Skin
• The skin became dried during the
mummification process, so Egyptians
rubbed different "moisturizers" onto the
skin, such as oils, beeswax, spices, and
even milk and wine.
The Heart
• Leave the heart inside the
body. The heart was
considered very important and
was left inside to travel with
the spirit. Often, a decorative
encasing that resembles a
beetle would protect the heart.
The Brain
• Remove and dispose the brain. The brain
would be shrunk and taken out through the
nose. Many mummies show evidence of
tools used to take out this organ which
was considered to be useless by the
ancient Egyptians.
• Cleanse and purify the body. Use a special
salt and resin to make the skin leather-like
and keep it intact.
Body Prep
• Pack the body. To make the mummy
maintain its human shape, fill it with cloth.
• Wrap the body with linen bandages. Start
with each toe, finger and limb and work
the wraps around the entire body. Often
times, gold and other important objects
would be wrapped up with the body so
the relative could take those items to
the afterlife.
Burial
• Complete the burial. Once the
mummification process is over, the body
would be placed in a decorate coffin, or
even two or three decorative coffins and
placed in a tomb.
Opening of the Mouth
• The Opening of the Mouth was performed
by priests outside the burial chamber. This
was one of the most important
preparations. The family of the mummy
recited spells while the priests used
special instruments to touch different parts
of the mummy's face. The Egyptians
believed that the mummy would not
be able to eat, see, hear, or move in
the afterlife if this ceremony did not
take place.
Weighing of the Heart
• The most important task to achieve immortality was not
actually seen by anyone. This task was called "The
Weighing of the Heart." Egyptians believed that the most
powerful part of a person was his heart. The heart was
never removed from the body, because it was
considered to be the center of a person's being. In this
ceremony, the gods of the underworld judged the
mummy's heart, or how well he behaved during his
natural life. Maat, the goddess of truth, brought out her
scale; on one side was the mummy's heart, and on the
other was the Feather of Truth. Anubis, the god of the
underworld, made the final judgment, and Thoth, the
scribe god, recorded it all. If the heart balanced the
feather, the soul of the mummy was granted immortality.
If the heart was heavier than the feather (if the sins
outweighed the virtues), the soul was doomed to a
horrible fate. The heart was thrown to a monster called
Ammit, or Devourer of the Dead.
Mummification
Egyptian Mummies
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< Lady Rai
Ramses II >
Egyptian Rulers
Queen Nodjmet, the >
wife of High Priest Herihor
<The
mummy of Seti I - Pharaoh of
Ancient Egypt the father of
Ramesses the Great.
King Tut
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< Death Mask
Giza
Valley of
the Kings
• Location of the valley
in the Theban Hills,
West of the Nile,
October 1988 (red
arrow shows location)
Valley of the Kings
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• Burial chamber of
Ramesses VI >
< Entry to the Valley
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<King Tut center
Ramses VI
left