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Learn about the process of mummification in Ancient Egypt.
The mummification process used by Ancient Egyptians was highly ceremonialin nature.
The different types of mummification took into account the social Level and richness of the deceased, and even included animals.
The most expensive was that reserved for the pharaoh and the royal family, as well as some of the wealthiest members of the court.The first step was cleaning. Once bodies arrived at the mummification site, they were placed on inclined tables while the bodily fluids drained away. They were then cleaned by priests, until they were deemed ready for the purification process.
The purification of the body began with a libation from sacred water. The priests then fumigated the body with terebinth resin. After the ritual cleansing, priests used oils, spices and all kinds of essences to further purify the body of the deceased. Finally, all body hair was meticulously removed.
Once the body was properly purified, embalmers removed the organs, following very specific procedures. First, the brain was extracted by inserting a spoon through the nostril to break the ethmoid bone. Then, using a spatula, the pieces of the brain were removed as thoroughly as possible. What matter remained was extracted after a process of liquification achieved through the use of a caustic liquid. The cranial box, once emptied, was rinsed and disinfected with palm wine, and then stuffed with strips of linen cloth and liquefied resin.
After taking care of the brain, embalmers made an incision on the left flank and carefully set aside the viscera. The inside of the body was also rinsed with palm wine. Then, the embalmers filled the belly with pure myrrh, cinnamon and other perfumes and sewed it shut. The removed viscera were washed in palm wine, and packed in crushed herbs before being placed in canopic jars.
Canopic jars were placed close to the sarcophagus, or kept in a chest nearby. At first, the viscera were wrapped in tissue and placed in the vases. As the ritual requirements became more elaborate, ointments, spices and even water and natron were added to the process.
Towards the middle of the New Kingdom, canopic jars assumed the appearance of the four sons of Horus.
They were known as the protectors of the viscera. These protectors had their own guardians, each a goddess of the dead.
Imsety, the human-headed god, protected the liver, and was protected by the goddess Iset. Hapi, the baboon-headed god, protected the lungs, and was protected by the goddess Nephthys.
Duamutef, the jackal-headed god, protected the stomach, and was protected by the goddess Neith.
And finally Kebehsenuef, the falcon-headed god, protected the intestines, and was protected by the goddess Selket.Natron is a naturally occurring mineral found in evaporite. These sedimentary rocks are made up of mineral salts, and were generally mined from lakebeds in Egypt.
Embalmers used natron as a desiccant, to dry the flesh and stop the corpse's putrefaction process. Once the body was cleansed and eviscerated, the deceased was covered in natron for about forty days. Once desiccated, the body was prepared to be wrapped in strips of linen.
Once the body was fully desiccated by the natron treatment, embalmers oiled, painted, and sometimes even added hair extensions or a wig. They often used a henna-based antiseptic preparation to give the body a more colorful and lively appearance, while preparing it to resist molds and fungi.
Next came the phase which gave mummies their most well-known appearance: the wrapping. Originally, each part of the body was wrapped separately. Men had their arms crossed on their chests, while women had the right arm folded over their breasts, and the left arm stretched along the body. However, techniques evolved over time. Eventually the body as a whole was wrapped with limbs alongside the body, and increasingly sophisticated and different techniques of weaving flax bands were developed.
In addition to the jewelry and amulets arranged on the skin of the deceased, amulets were also carefully inserted into the weaving of the linen strips. Each amulet was linked to a myth or to an ideological belief related to rebirth.
Masks were an important part of a mummy's finery. Early wooden funeral coverings were very expensive, however, and soon replaced by masks created through a technique known as cartonnage.
Masks fashioned with this method were created by laying several layers of linen or papyrus pulp on a base made of mud or straw.
Cartonnage was used for more than funerary masks. Ornaments and the animal coffins of the Late Period were also made in such a fashion.Cartonnage evolved to cover the entire body of the mummy during the 22nd Dynasty. The mummies were placed on a board inside a rigid envelope of cartonnage, which was laced at the back with a string. Extremely cost effective and visually pleasing, this technique was very popular through all layers of the society.
Cartonnage envelopes were usually covered with inscriptions and polychrome decorations specifying the names and titles of the deceased, scenes depicting daily life, or decorations specific to the funerary world. This was a true gift for Egyptologists eager to study the funerary rites of the ancient Egyptians.
Once the mummy was properly wrapped and adorned, the embalmers proceeded with the ceremony of the Opening of the Mouth. A vital step of the funerary process, this ceremony was meant to bring back to life the deceased themselves, or an object representing the deceased.
There were no less than seventy-five different stages for the Opening of the Mouth. It required the application of the same coils, ointments, spices, and perfumes used during the mummification process. Make-up was sometimes part of the process as well.
The last stage of this long ritual was the act of touching the mouth with the adze to symbolically allow the breath of life to infuse an inert body. Its performance was reserved for a very specific set of people: priests who wore the mask of the god Anubis, a close relative of the family or by the heir to the throne.