Burial customs: Mummification

During the Predynastic Period burials
were very simple and Bodies were placed
in shallow graves in contracted position

Mummification is a method of preserving artificially the  bodies of deceased people and animals. Ancient Egyptian civilization is not the only one in the world to have practiced this custom, but Egyptian mummies are the best known and often, to the chagrin of professional Egyptologists, tend to be regarded as the embodiment of ancient Egypt itself as the main object of interest for those who study it. Mummies can contribute to our knowledge in  various ways, in particular by providing information on such subjects as illnesses and conditions of ancient Egyptians, their diet etc. In the case of royal mummies, we can add to our understanding of Egyptian chronology by helping to establish the age of a king at the time of his death; family relationships can also be discovered from examination of mummies.



Development

Like many other practices, mummification was introduced as a result of man's interaction with his natural environment. It was an attempt to preserve an element of it by artificial means when his own action started threatening it. For most of the Predynastic Period burials were very simple. Bodies were placed in shallow graves dug on the edge of the desert and covered with sand. In the dry atmosphere the contact with hot sand produced dehydration (desiccatiofiry quickly, often before the tissues decomposed, so that bodies were sometimes preserved by entirely natural means. This did not escape attention because such “mummies” were from time to time accidentally uncovered, and a belief developed that the preservation of the body was essential for man's continued existence after death. When at the end of the Predynastic Period some of the graves turned into larger tombs and coffins were introduced, these natural conditions were altered, in particular the contact with sand. It became necessary to look for methods which would achieve by artificial means what nature had previously accomplished unaided, and thus the custom of rnurnmification was introduced.

Its history is one of a continuous struggle between two approaches to the problem. The first aimed at a genuine preservation of the body, while the other, more formalistic, concentrated on the rnummy's wrappings and packing. The peak of the craft of mumrnification was reached at the end of the New Kingdom and in the period immediately following; from then on, there was a sharp decline, as if in recognition of the impossibility of the task, and the formalistic approach prevailed. Procedure of mummification was carried out in workshops attached to the necropolis; these also supplied most of the funerary equipment. Methods varied according to the period and the wealth of the deceased's family. Although there is no detailed ancient Egyptian description of the procedure, its steps can be reconstructed from the exanimation of mummies.

The method described here was used at the end of the New Kingdom and during the 3rd intermediate Period; it took some 70 days, and its most important part was dehydration of the body by burying it in natron, a naturally occurring dehydratin agent (a mixture of carbonate, bicarbonate, chloride and sulphate of Sudium):


l. Extraction of the brain.

2. Removal of the viscera through an incision made in the left flank.

3. Sterilization of the body cavities and the viscera.

4. Treatment of the viscera: removal of their contents, dehydration by natrou, drying,

anointing, and application of molten resin.

5. Temporary packing of the body with riatron and fragrant resins.

6, Covering the body with natron for some 40 days.

7. Removal of the temporary packing materials.

s. Subcutaneous packing of the limbs with sand, clay etc.

9. Packing the body cavities with resin-soaked linen and bags of fragrant materials, such as myrrh and cinnamon, but also sawdust ctc.

10. Anointing the body with unguents.

11. Treatment of the body surfaces with molten resin.

12. Bandaging and inclusion of amulets, jewelry etc.

 Sources: Baines and Malek, Atlas of Ancient Egypt, 1995