For my Inquiry learning question I have chosen:
How did the Egyptians mummify different types of people and animals?
My project subtopics are:
This is how they did it.
How did the Egyptians mummify different types of people and animals?
My project subtopics are:
- Pharaohs
- Servants
- Animals
This is how they did it.
Mummification was a long process that takes roughly 70 days to complete. Mummification begins in a tent called an ibu which means "place of purification". The embalmers started by pulling the brain out, smashing it through the nose with a hook and yanking it out. They did this because they saw no reason to keep it intact with the body. The ancient Egyptians attached no spiritual connection to the brain.
The next thing the embalmers did was to make a cut up the left side of the body through which they removed the internal organs. After that they let the organs dry and placed the lungs, the intestines, the stomach and the liver inside canopic jars. A god symbol was placed on top of each of the canopic jars to watch over the different organs on the mummies journey to the afterlife. When the heart was dried they placed it back inside the body because the Egyptians believed the heart was the centre of all being.
After this the body is dried out by being stuffed with natron salt. After forty days of drying the body is washed with water from the Nile and is covered in oils to help keep the skin elastic. Then the body is packed with with materials such as natron salt, linen or sawdust to give it a more lifelike effect.
When the drying out is finished the embalmers can start to wrap the deceased body with linen. Throughout the wrapping process priests read spells from the book of the dead to help protect the deceased in their journey to the afterlife. First they start with the head and neck that are wrapped in fine linen. The fingers and toes are then wrapped individually. Next the arms and legs are wrapped separately. The arms are then tied together and a papyrus scroll with spells from the book of the dead is laid between the hands and the body. They then begin wrapping the torso with strips of linen. Between each layer of linen amulets are placed to protect the body from harm and to help them complete their quest into the afterlife. Finally the mummy is wrapped in a large cloth and that is secured with yet more linen that runs from the top of the mummy to the bottom and around the middle.
After they have finished wrapping the mummy the can preform the oppening of the mouth ceremony that allows the deceased to eat and drink in the afterlife this was very important in Ancient Egyptian beliefs. Now that the desceased is fully prepared they place him or her into a stone coffin called a sarcophagus and start the funeral procession.