THE PROCESS OF MUMMIFICATION

THE PROCESS OF MUMMIFICATION

1. They washed the body of the Pharaoh in the river Nile. Or They washed it with wine and water from the Nile.

THE PROCESS OF MUMMIFICATION

2. They removed the brain through the nostrils (nose) using a hook. Then, they threw it away.

3. They made an incision or cut on the side of the body and removed the main organs (lungs, intestines, liver and stomach). Then, they washed, dried out, perfumed and wrapped them. Later, they put them in the canopic jars. They left the heart in the body because it was the centre of intelligence and feeling and the man would need it in the afterlife.

THE PROCESS OF MUMMIFICATION

THE PROCESS OF MUMMIFICATION

4. They body was covered with natron (salty substance) to absorb the moisture (dry it out) for 40 days. All of the fluids and rags from the embalming process will be saved and buried along with the body.

THE PROCESS OF MUMMIFICATION5. They removed the natron. Then, the washed the body with water from the Nile. Later, it was covered with oil to help the skin stay elastic and spices to perfum it. After that, the corpse (body) was stuffed with dry materials such as sawdust, leaves and linen so that it looked lifelike. Finally, the incision was closed and the corpse was wrapped (in linen cloth). It lasted 15 days.

THE PROCESS OF MUMMIFICATION6. They performed a ritual called “The Opening of the Mouth”. Here one priest, dressed as the God Anubis, held the body and touched his mouth with an adze. They believed that this ceremony would give back to the mummy all of the senses which were lost at death.

THE PROCESS OF MUMMIFICATION7. They put the mummy (Pharaoh) inside the sarcophagus together with his belongings (jewellery, amulets, canopic jars,…).

In the past, when the internal organs were removed from a body they were placed in hollow canopic jars. Over many years the embalming practices changed and embalmers began returning internal organs to bodies after the organs had been dried in natron. However, solid wood or stone canopic jars were still buried with the mummy to symbolically protect the internal organs.

THE PROCESS OF MUMMIFICATIONCURIOSITIES:

THE PROCESS OF MUMMIFICATIONCURIOSITIES:

At the beginning, the mummies of the Pharaohs were buried inside the sarcophagus in a pyramid.

After, they started to bury the Pharaohs in the Valley of the Kings, under the ground, because the thieves (robbers) came into the pyramids to steal the pharaohs’ belongings (amulets, jewellry,…).