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history of mummy

Ancient Egypt has captivated the hearts and minds of history lovers for centuries. During the Victorian era, mummy fever hit an-all time high with shady characters selling ground mummy powder as a cure-all for ailments. Eventually science begin to reveal the people behind the exotic mummies with techniques of digital facial reconstruction, DNA mapping and carbon dating. Today we have learned valuable information about ancient Egyptian through the bodies of its citizens, the mummies.

Origins

  • The word "mummy" comes from the Latin word "mumia," which translated means bitumen. Bitumen is a black organic pitch-like liquid that stains the skin. Early investigators of mummies believed that bitumen was used during the process because of the blackness of the corpses' skin. Microscopic research tested this theory and found no use of bitumen. The oldest known mummy dates from about 3300 B.C. and is called "Ginger" because of the corpse's red hair. Scientists believe that the dry desert sands and the heat made mummification occur naturally at first. Later, religious sects promoting the belief in an afterlife perfected mummification with herbs, ointments and special treatments of the corpses.

Facts

  • Egyptians used special embalming techniques to preserve the bodies of the deceased. According to their religion, it was important to preserve the mummy to appear as life-like as possible. Mummification may have been in use throughout the entire history of ancient Egypt since its beginnings around 4000 B.C. Practitioners removed the major organs like the stomach, lungs, liver and intestines. But the heart stayed intact, because was believed to contain the deceased's soul and personality. In later years, mummification took 70 days and consisted of soaking the body in chemicals and packing it internally and externally with herbs. It was also a religious ceremony, which called for incantations and magic spells.

Belief System

  • The belief system surrounding mummification was complex. Egyptians believed that each person had a soul, or ka. In order for the ka to survive in the afterlife it had to reunite with its body, hence the need for preserving the body's appearance so the ka could recognize it. Egyptians often included wooden replicas of the deceased in the burial in case the wandering ka didn't recognize its mummified body. When the ka reached the underworld kingdom of the Egyptian god Osiris, Osiris judged it on a scale. If he approved the ka, it was then allowed to continue to Yaru, the Egyptian paradise.

Burial Chambers

  • The embalmers placed vital organs of a corpse like the lungs, stomach, liver and intestines in canopic jars (made of calcite) before the mummification process began. There were different ways to bury the mummy, based on the social status of the person. Important figures of the day like pharaohs and priests had their remains placed inside elaborate sarcophagi made of rich woods. These high-ranking society members had their portraits painted on their coffins. The sarcophagi then went inside a burial chamber located underground, in the side of a mountain or in a pyramid. The grieving family filled the burial chambers with items the dead would need in the afterlife including food, favorite board games and sometimes even servants.

Time Frame

  • At the beginning of the Egyptian culture, practitioners mummified bodies by soaking them in carbonic water or baking soda. By 1500 B.C., the process had become more elaborate, when it included the removal of the organs and a lengthy drying time to preserve the body. By this time in its history, the mummification and burial process took 70 days to complete. The Ptolemaic Dynasty wanted after the death of Cleopatra in 30 B.C. The end of the pharaohs brought about the ending of the making of mummies.

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