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Lozano 1 Javier Lozano Gango - 2 10/25/13 The Mummy: An Undying Legacy The mummy- an eerily well-preserved human corpse common to ancient cultures- was first introduced and consequently made notorious by Hollywood in 1932. A considerable amount of work, money, and time has been paid to make the mummy a popular symbol in our culture, most notably from the blockbuster “Mummy” film series. However, Hollywood had little to almost nothing to do with the creation of the iconic character itself. Instead, the mummy came from a distinct combination of Egypt’s terrain, religion, and the fancies of the at-the-time ruling dynasty. The basal elements, and perhaps the most influential factors, that led to the birth of the mummy are the terrain and landscape of Egypt. The extreme conditions found within Egyptian borders such as the “scorching heat, bone-piercing cold, and a highly saltine areas,”: came together to form the perfect conditions for natural mummification (Reid 19). Temperatures in Egypt during the daytime, are capable of reaching 114 degrees Fahrenheit, a temperature under which a body’s moisture would evaporate. Coupled with a high environmental salinity, this would easily prevent the buildup of bacteria that decompose carrion. Together, such conditions allowed for the accidental discovery of preservation in 4000 B.C. Thereafter, preservation became a formal practice known as mummification which, six thousand and thirteen years ago, was simply “[wrapping] the dead in desiccated goat skin” and putting them in a pit of sand (El Mahdy 53). Without Lozano 2 Egypt’s unique terrain and climate, mummification would have never been discovered, never been expanded on, and the mummy that is known today would never have existed. In addition to being the origin of mummification itself, the unusual landscape of Egypt also gave rise to another instrumental component of the mummy: religion. The Egyptians were beings with a discerning eye that saw patterns all around them. They perceived the rising and setting of the sun and the annual flooding of the Nile River as an indication of a renewal of life, or life after death (Hawass 121). The idea of the after-life became heavily embedded into religion, ultimately affecting mummification by reinforcing the preservation of the body in order to reach the afterlife. Egyptians believed that in the beginning, when gods roamed the earth, two siblings came into existence bringing chaos along with them: Seth and Osiris. Seth, the god of disorder, spent ages conjuring plans to bring about the downfall of his brother, during which time Osiris, the antithesis of Seth, had become a prominent leader known for his kindness and benevolence. At last, Seth, plagued by jaundice and envy, was driven into a fit of rage which provided him with cause to finally bring his plan to fruition resulting in the murder and mutilation of Osiris (Ikram 18). Seth, not satiated by his heinous act and still a puppet to his covetous nature, prompted to scatter Osiris’ dismembered body throughout Egypt. Osiris’ soul found itself lost without a body to return to and was forced to roam the Underworld until his body was reassembled by his wife Isis and embalmed by Anubis. After this, he revived and became king and ruler of the Underworld (Reid 110). Osiris’ tale was passed down as the “prototype mummy” tale, and inspired the mummifications that would happen later (Ikram 18). Through him the idea of a ba, kah, Lozano 3 and a sah were born, a personality, spirit, and a body. The ba, before returning to the body, like Osiris, was believed to make a perilous journey to the Underworld, which, if completed successfully, would allow for the polymerization of the ka, which lay dormant within the body. The ba, yielding an akh or an everlasting life-force, was sometimes allowed to join the ranks of the gods (Reid 113). Following Osiris’ example and reaching an ahk metamorphosis became the Egyptian’s ultimate goal reinforcing the idea of preservation of the body and allowing the art of mummification to thrive for nearly four thousand years. Four millennia provided Egypt with much change as a plethora of rulers and dynasties came and went. On the other hand, four thousand years was not enough to change Egypt’s religion. Everybody adhered strictly to the ancient religion. Even foreigners who ruled Egypt embraced it. When Greece and Rome “usurped leadership of the land, the foreign rulers often adopted the complex Egyptian pantheon of gods and religious practices” (Hawass 121). Many foreign rulers took up Egyptian practices such as marrying siblings and identifying themselves with gods. One of the most famous examples is the Greek ruler Cleopatra who married her brother Ptolemy XIII and who also presented herself as the reincarnation of the Egyptian goddess, Isis. A few foreign rulers kept to their ancestral ways; however, they did not interfere with the kingdom’s peoples’ beliefs. Nonetheless, religion and mummification continued to thrive with each dynasty contributing their own interpretation of the process. As time passed, submerging someone in hot sand, wrapped in goat skin came to be known as an unworthy and antiquated process of preservation. Vermin of the desert would eat food left for the ka, allowing it to die. Sometimes the body itself was consumed Lozano 4 and the ba had no place to return to after its journey to the Underworld. The process was seen as especially unfit for Pharaohs who were essentially seen as demi-gods by the people. Around 2650 B.C., aesthetics became a major focus of preservation (Wallis 154). The deceased, instead of being thrown into a sand pit, were now being placed within opulent tombs filled with riches worthy of gods. During this period, the person would be wrapped in “linen bandages [which] were stiffened with plaster to create a case for the corpse known as a cartonnage before it was placed in its sarcophagus” (Hawass 132). The mummies, by this time, along with all the idols associated with it, although they still had a long way to go, were beginning to resemble more and more the items seen on screen today. By this period, the mummy had a few of its signature characteristics like its linenwrapped body and a sarcophagus. However, other important aspects such as canopic jars, decorated sarcophagi, and a plethora of other items associated with the modern mummy remained to be seen. Although the new modifications were aesthetically pleasing to the eye, the process itself proved to be less efficient than the sand-burial at preservation itself. This fact led to much innovation in the years that followed. The new, inefficient way of mummification gave rise to many iconic components seen in movies. Egyptians realized that a perfect preservation was impossible every time so they sought to create other ways to ensure the deceased reached the afterlife safely. The rush to create a perfect bridge to the afterlife resulted in the appearance of the first pyramid. The construction is known today as the Step Pyramid and is estimated to have been built in 2600 B.C. for King Djoser in Saqqara. The pyramid is considered “to be a representation of the primordial mound that rose from the waters of Lozano 5 chaos” and that as it had helped Re reach the heavens, it would do the same for anyone placed inside (Reid 117). Many scholars today view the shape of the odd monument as an indication that it was conceived as a stairway to heaven, “believed to have been trodden by the ascending King [Djoser], on his way to the sung-god, Re” (Ikram 22). Whatever interpretation is taken into consideration, most do agree that the construction was built in order to facilitate or catalyze the deceased entrance into the afterlife. Pyramids soon became a major component of the burial of high-ranking members of Egypt, most often only constructed for the pharaohs. Centuries later, during the Middle Kingdom’s reign which began around 2055 B.C., mummification took a more personal approach. Mummies were now being wrapped in linen taken from the clothing of the deceased (Ikram 153). The idea behind using linen from the person’s belongings was to provide the deceased’s ba with a way of recognizing his/her former body through past possessions held in his/her lifetime. The coffins of mummies, around this time, were also going through a makeover. Coffins began to be painted with the person’s visage so that, in the case that the body became unrecognizable, the ba would still be able to find its body through its representation on the coffin. The same idea was applied to statues. Many times a physical rendition, constructed of pure gold was left behind within the tomb, in close proximity of the person’s coffin whose name it bore (Hawass 126). Such lavish effigies were usually protected by a writing of religious verses and foreboding curses on the coffin. During the reign of the New Kingdom, which lasted from 1500 B.C.to 1069 B.C., mummification reached its golden age. Artistic and scientific advancements were at their height during this period. “The discovery of chemical preservatives led to evolution Lozano 6 of a systematic process which was perfected during the 18th Dynasty” (Phatak). Natron, the preservative discovered gave rise to a very complex process that lasted exactly seventy days. The process began by purifying the person’s body with water before the brain was removed. (MacFarquhar). After which the organs were removed, purified, perfumed, doused in aromatic oils and finally placed in canopic jars (Reid 108). The body cavity was purified and perfumed before it was lavished with enticing smells in order to prevent foul odors from accumulating during the long process. The cavity was then filled with Natron and left in peace for a forty day period after which the body was wrapped in linen (Reid 116). Throughout the whole procession complicated verses from the book of the dead were recited by high-ranking priests. The tomb of the most famous mummy, Tutankhamun, is a testament to how intricate the mummification process was at the time. The body of King Tutankhamun was first “wrapped in sixteen layers of linen, [after which] it was placed in a gold anthropoid coffin, which was then enclosed in two more boxes of limestone sarcophagi” (Hawass 134). The New Kingdom, considered the epitome of intellectual advancement of the world at the time, and rich in culture, science, and art is likely the biggest influence and inspiration for many stories, books, and movies concerning mummies in contemporary times. The mummy, one of the most notorious universal monsters, spent nearly three millennia in the making. After many years of constant modifications, either aesthetic or utilitarian, the mummy finally, along with all the sepulchral monuments it is associated with, became ready to appear on screen. If Egypt’s landscape or religion would have been Lozano 7 different or if the dynasties would have had anything other than a progressive mentality, the mummy so many people have become fond of, would not exist today. Works Cited Lozano 8 El Mahdy, Christine. Mummies, Myth, and Magic in Ancient Egypt. New York, N.Y.: Thames and Hudson, 1989. Print. Hawass, Zahi . Valley of the Golden Mummies. New York, N.Y.: Harry N. Abrams, 2000. Print. Ikram, Salima, and Aidan Dodson. The Mummy in Ancient Egypt: Equipping the Dead for Eternity. New York: Thames & Hudson, 1998. Print. MacFarquhar, Neil. "New Life for the Long Dead." New York Times Upfront. 08 Mar. 2004: 22. eLibrary. Web. 27 Sep. 2013 Phatak, Omkar. "Mummification Facts."Buzzle. About Buzzle, 20 Sept. 2011. Web. 27 Sept. 2013. Reid, Howard. In Search of the Immortals: Mummies, Death, and the Afterlife. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2001. Print. Walllis Budge, E. A.. The Mummy. New York: Causeway Books, 1974. Print.