Mummification

The first attempt to preserve the dead is recorded as early as 3000 BC, but not much was known. Only few depictions clue us in on this subject probably because it was too sacred to be shown to people during this time period. Most knowledge is based upon Herodotus, a Greek historian, and depictions left by later Egyptians. Together, both through depictions and Herodotus, we can get an insight into what might have happened during the mummification process.

After the death of an Egyptian, the embalmers where called by family members and the body was taken to the ibu, “the tent of purification.” In this tent, which was located on the west bank of the Nile, the body would go through a process that lasted seventy days, no longer. Once brought to the ibu, the carcass was cleaned with water containing the purifying agent natron. This cleaning ritual, which was the first process, may have represented the rebirth of the deceased.

After being washed and cleansed, the carcass was taken to the wabet, the “palace of embalming.” According to Herodotus, a large incision was made on the left side of the abdomen. This incision, which was cut with a flint knife, was used for removing vital organs such as the intestines, liver, lungs and stomach. Often times the kidneys were ignored because it was thought they had little importance. Once removed, the organs were wrapped and placed in canopic jars. During the later periods of Egyptian Dynasty, the organs were placed between the legs of the mummy. Along with the organs, mainly during the late Middle or early New Kingdom forward, the brain was removed. A large hole was punched through the ethmoid bone located just above the nostrils. A hook shaped object was used to move the brain about until it became liquified and easily drained. According to Herodotus, the rest of the contents were removed with “drugs.”

After the body had been cleansed and the organs removed, it was then ready for the next step, the drying of the body. The process remains a controversial subject because of Herodotus’s choice of words used to describe the process. He used the word pickle; which led many Egyptologists to believe the body was submerged in a solution of natron salt. The other method, which was tested and proved more logical, called for large amounts of natron salt packed around the body until the 70th day, when the body was desiccated.

After being dried in the bed of natron salt, the body is then washed and all traces of the salt removed. The cadaver is then taken to per nefer, “the house of beauty,” where it is stuffed and shaped back to its normal size. Many perfumes and oils were rubbed on the body and the open wounds were filled and covered with wax. Over the wax a metal plate decorated with symbols of protection sealed the wounds. After the anointing was completed, molten resin was added to cover the body. Both men and women would be colored with ochre. The men would be colored red and the women yellow.

Colored and stuffed, it’s was then ready to be wrapped. The wrapping process lasted fifteen to thirteen days. Family members of the deceased would donate cloth to embalmers and in many cases, special fine cloth with spells written upon them were used. Most of the time, sheets of linen were used as the main wrapping material. This process was done until the body was protected from head to foot in linen. After being covered, the body was covered with a death mask made of papyrus or linen and reinforced with plaster. Royal mummies, such as Tutankhamun’s, were made of gold and held precious and semiprecious stones that were inlaid. The mummy was then packaged and ready for the afterlife and was placed into its coffins and laid to rest in its tomb. This was all done along with the deceased person’s belongings.

Not all mummies went through this process. According to Herodotus, there were three methods of mummification that were broken up into classes; wealthy, middle class, and poor. The wealthy went through the full process while the middle was downgraded and the poor was done very minimally, only enough to preserve the body.