Ancient Egypt • Mummification

The Mummification Process

In ancient Egypt mummification was a means of preserving a body whose survival in a recognizable form was essential for an expected life after death.

The Removal of Internal Organs

The period spent on preparing the body for burial was usually seventy days. Forty days of these were devoted to drying out the dead body. As soon as possible after death, the corpse was handed over to the embalmers. Their task, and the first step in the ancient Egyptian mummification process, was to remove the brain and internal organs immediately, which otherwise would rot rapidly.

The brain was usually removed through the nostrils. The heart, however, as the seat of understanding, was regularly left in place. Although the removal of internal organs was essential for a successful mummification, the Egyptian embalmers considered their careful preservation of the body itself to be of equal importance.

To dehydrate the body efficiently, dissolve body fats, and make the skin lithe, dry soda crystals were used as a part of the ancient Egypt mummification process. The internal organs were also treated with soda - but separately from the body - and then placed in four canopic jars.

The Embalmers Cache

All materials used during the process of drying out the body and organs, including the temporary packing linen, were carefully saved for storage near the tomb, in an embalmers cache. It was important that the juices extracted from the dead body not be divorced completely from it.

The Repacking of the Body

Finally, the body was repacked with linen and sawdust before the lips of the embalming incision were drawn together and covered by an embalming plate, which was a tablet of leather, metal or wax, bearing a representation of the Eye of Horus. This was considered a powerful amulet for protecting the ancient Egyptian mummies.