|
Cairo Office Tel: + 2 010 1077438 Fax: + 2 02 2635253
London Office Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7706 0900 Fax: + 44 (0) 20 7706 1991 |
|
|
Mummies
|
Mummies
|
|
|
Egypt Hotels Nile Cruises Special Offers
Mummification is the preservation of the body of a dead person or animal. The Egyptians were absolute masters at this craft. It not known exactly when this practice first began, but there is evidence dating back to the Pre-Dynastic Period showing bodies in fetal positions placed in shallow graves or tombs and mummified by the sand, intense sun and heat. During the New Kingdom is when the art is truly perfected as shown by the picture of Ramesses II.
The process of mummification is complex. There are actually
70 steps which need to be carried out over 70 days. The main stages are as
follows: Finally the body or mummy was placed in a coffin, usually in the shape of the corpse. Sometimes several coffins were placed one inside the other, and then these were in turn placed inside a stone sarcophagus. The internal organs, such as the stomach, intestines, and liver were mummified as well and then placed in canopic jars made of alabaster. The jars were then placed near the sarcophagus in the tomb or in some cases between the legs of the mummy itself. The process of mummification was usually for the wealthy such as royalty, nobles, or scribes. The poorer people merely wrapped their deceased in linen and placed in shallow graves in the sand.
In the great museum of Egyptian antiquities in
Cairo, throngs of curious sightseers daily look into the very faces of the
pharaohs and nobles who ruled Egypt many centuries ago. The ancient Egyptians
were preserved as mummies, or embalmed bodies, thousands of which have been
taken from the sands and tombs of Egypt. The Egyptians practiced the art of
mummifying their dead for 3,000 years or more in the belief that the soul would
someday return to the body and occupy it again. The bodies were preserved by the
use of resin and spices or sometimes by immersion in a solution of salt or
natron.
|
|
Copyright © 1999 - 2013 Egypt Hotel Reservation Centre. |
After
a period of preparation that took about 70 days, they were wrapped in linen.
Then the shrouded mummy was usually placed in two cases of cedar or of cloth
stiffened with glue. The outer case was often covered with paintings and
hieroglyphics telling of the life and various deeds of the deceased. A molded
mask of the dead or a portrait on linen or wood sometimes decorated the head end
of the case. This double case was placed in an oblong coffin and deposited in a
sarcophagus. The bodies of poorer people were merely dried with salt and wrapped
with coarse cloths.
Sacred animals, particularly cats, were also mummified. During the Middle Ages
apothecary shops sold a powder that was made from ancient mummies. At that time
the substance was considered to have medicinal value. The Egyptians excelled in
this art of preserving the body in a lifelike condition, but mummy making was
practiced also in Peru and Mexico. The most carefully prepared Egyptian mummies
date from about 1000 BC, but the earliest ones discovered are much older.