The process of mummification as practiced during the time of the ancient Egyptians had a series of steps done in a specific order. In total,
99 steps and 70 days for mummification to burial existed. These steps are as follows:
1) The brains were drawn out of the skull by means of an iron hook inserted through the nostrils. The fragments were thrown away and the inside of the skull rinsed out with fluid. The function of the brain was not understood: it was merely
considered to be the organ producing mucus, and wasn't worthy of preservation.
2) An incision was made in the flank with an obsidian knife and the internal organs extracted.
The bowels and lungs were taken out (the latter via the diaphragm after cutting the windpipe), but the heart was left behind. The heart was thought to be the seat of
intelligence, it would be weighed in front of Osiris, God of the Dead, to decide
if the person deserved to enter the afterlife. The kidneys, perhaps because they were not recognized, were also often left behind. The Fallopian tubes, uterus and ovaries were removed, but not the penis or testicles. The chest and abdominal cavities were rinsed with palm wine and spices, packed with temporary materials, and the skin incision sewn up.
3) The body was then covered with natron, and left on a sloping stone slab, for six weeks.
4) After washing and thorough drying, the chest and abdomen were re-packed with linen cloth and bags of resin, sawdust and natron. Resin-impregnated cloth was put into the skull.
5) The skin was, by now, very shriveled and stiff, and the face and limbs were
shrunken and distorted resulting in the person being almost unrecognizable. The skin was treated by massaging a lotion consisting of juniper oil, beeswax, natron, spices and wine
into it. From the 21st dynasty (1085 BC) onwards, linen pads, mud, sand or
sawdust was packed under the skin as a filling material to restore outlines. This was done on the face, under the skin of the arms, legs, back and neck, and sometimes, in the case of women, the breasts. Cosmetics such as rouge were applied as necessary. The mummy began to look more lifelike
after these processes. In later periods the whole surface of the body was painted with an ochre-gum mixture, red for men and yellow for women.
6) The edges of the skin incision in the flank were drawn together and covered with a plate of gold foil or wax. The incision was not usually sewn up.
7) The eyes, sunken as a result of the dehydration process, were covered with resin-soaked linen pads and the eyelids drawn over them. In later periods artificial eyes were used, with obsidian pupils and whites made of alabaster. Nails, often loosened after the natron treatment, were tied on with thread.
8) Jewelry, or other adornments such as gold leaf on the face and chest, were added at this stage. King Psusennes (21st dynasty) probably holds the record: when he was ready for bandaging he had 22 bangles on his arms and 27 rings on fingers and thumbs.
9) Finally, the body was carefully and thoroughly, wrapped in gum-impregnated linen bandages. Roles of bandage were up to 15 meters long and a single mummy might be enveloped in 37 square meters of bandaging, arranged in intricate geometrical patterns. It was an elaborate process, taking fifteen days. When it was finished, the corpse looked like our idea of a mummy.
This process of mummification was reserved for those with more money (usually nobility and royalty) and after the process was completed the "mummy wore a mask on the head and shoulders, consisting of plaster-stiffened linen with a painted face" (Mims, p.199). For those who could not afford such an elaborate process of mummification "a cheaper, economy class mummification was carried out by injecting cedar oil into the anus with a syringe and plugging this orifice, or by removing the intestines via the anus, and leaving the body under natron for many days. The dehydration was less thorough, and oils, resins and wrappings were used more sparingly than in good-quality mummies. When a poor-quality mummy is unwrapped the skin is not well preserved and the limbs and ears easily fall off" (Mims, p.199)
As most school children learn at an early age, special treatment was given to the internal organs of those who were mummified. Cedric Mims talks about this treatment on pages 202 and 203 of his book, When We Die.
The internal organs were dried out with natron, treated with sweet-smelling ointments, coated with molten resin and wrapped in linen bandages. Separate packages were made for different organs, as each was the concern of a different son of the
god Horus. These four sons were guardians of the entrails:
-Imsety: Portrayed as a human head, took care of the liver
-Hapy: Portrayed as a baboon's head, the lungs
-Qebkh-senuef: Portrayed as a falcon's head, the intestines
-Duamutef: Portrayed as a jackal's head, the stomach
The four packages were placed in separate boxes, in miniature coffins, or in canopic jars or chests. These jars, initially made of carved stone, were decorated and had human-headed stoppers. In later periods (21st dynasty) the organ packages were returned to the body cavities of the mummy, although the empty canopic jars were retained as part of the burial equipment.
With the process of mummification complete the deceased could continue on to the
.
Bibliography
1)
When We Die by Cedric Mims,
pages 197-199 for information on the process of mummification.
2) Ancient Civilizations for the
canopicjar (2nd graphic of a canopic jar) graphic.
3) Egypt Art for the canopicjars
(3rd graphic of the canopic jars) graphic.
4)
Egyptian Tombs by Jeanne Bendick, pages 2, 39, and 47 for the graphics
of King Tut's mummy, the mummy from 1025 B.C. and for the golden coffin of King
Tut.
5) Museum of Fine Arts, Boston for the limestone
canopic jars (1st canopic jars) graphic.
6)
King Tut's Place
for the graphic of King Tut's golden funeral mask.
7) Civilisation.ca for the graphics of mummification materials, tools, and
Anubis presiding over embalming.
The process of mummification as practiced during the time of the ancient Egyptians had a series of steps done in a specific order. In total,
99 steps and 70 days for mummification to burial existed. These steps are as follows:
linen cloth and bags of resin, sawdust and natron. Resin-impregnated cloth was put into the skull.
carried out by injecting cedar oil into the anus with a syringe and plugging this orifice, or by removing the intestines via the anus, and leaving the body under natron for many days. The dehydration was less thorough, and oils, resins and wrappings were used more sparingly than in good-quality mummies. When a poor-quality mummy is unwrapped the skin is not well preserved and the limbs and ears easily fall off" (Mims, p.199)
These jars, initially made of carved stone, were decorated and had human-headed stoppers. In later periods (21st dynasty) the organ packages were returned to the body cavities of the mummy, although the empty canopic jars were retained as part of the burial equipment.