What Was the Purpose of Mummification In Ancient Egypt?
Egyptian mummification, also called treating the dead body; for this method to work success, Should remove all moisture from the body; it needs to be completely dehydrated,
turning it into a hard mass that can’t break down. Priests in the mummification process put a hook into a space next to the nose on the body and then use the hook to take out
a piece of the brain. After that, a cut is made on the patient’s left side, near the belly button, and every organ is removed.
The doctors then wait for the organs to dry before moving on to the next step. The organs were stored in canopic jars when everything was said and done.
How Did Mummification Reflect Egyptian Beliefs About the Afterlife?
The Ancient Egyptians constituted an extremely religious society, and this religiosity determined cultural and social practices among the Egyptians.
One of them was the belief in immortality. For the Egyptians, death would be fleeting, and life would return to the body, but the return to life
would only happen if the dying person’s body were preserved.
If the soul (Rá) did not return to the body (Ká), the body was not conserved. Hence the importance of mummifying the bodies,
embalming, and preserving them to prevent decomposition. For this, there were advanced mummification techniques for the nobles and more straightforward methods for the poor.
The advanced mummification techniques developed in Ancient Egypt only existed because of advanced medicine.
Egyptian doctors performed surgeries, treated fractures, and knew human anatomy.
In addition to the technique of preserving bodies through mummification, the Egyptians needed to develop a method of protecting bodies from looters,
hence the construction of monumental tombs. The tombs would guarantee the conservation of the bodies.
Usually, when a wealthy person ( pharaoh ), who held power, died, his body was mummified and later placed in tombs that were considered a proper dwellings.
The pharaoh and his riches were buried in a royal chamber, and his servants (employees), scribes, priests, and animals in other more spartan chambers.”
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What is The Meaning of Mummification?
The English word mummy comes from the Latin word “Mumia,” derived from the Persian word “mum,” which means “wax” about a mummified body that resembles wax.
Arid in that era, the corpses were placed in graves; graves were rectangles or oval shapes, where the corpse was placed on its left side in a position similar to the fetus.
How did Egyptian Mummification Start?
About 2600 BCE, Egyptians probably began to mummify the dead intentionally during the Fourth and Fifth Dynasties. The practice continued and developed for well over 2,000 years,
It was designed for more than 2000 years until the Roman era, about 30 BC, and the best mummies that were prepared and preserved date back to the 18th dynasty until the 20th dynasty,
and include the mummy of Tutankhamun.
Who Was the God of Mummification in Ancient Egyptian?
Anubis is the Greek name for a god who, in ancient Egyptian religion, was associated with mummification and the afterlife. He was often depicted as a dog-like animal or a man
with a dog’s head. Archaeologists believe that the animal symbol of Anubis was the African golden wolf.
Like many other ancient Egyptian deities, Anubis had various roles in various contexts. Even during the First Dynasty (c. 3100 – c. 2890 BC), he was called the protector of graves,
but he was also an embalmer involved in mummifying the deceased’s body. During the Middle Kingdom period (c. 2055 – 1650 BC), Osiris replaced
Anubis in his original role as ruler of the underworld. One of Anubis’ main functions was to escort dead souls to the afterlife. During the trial, Osiris weighed the deceased’s body
on the scales of the underworld, determining whether he would be allowed to gain eternal life. As one of the most ancient, most often depicted and mentioned gods of the Egyptian pantheon, Anubis played almost no role in myths.
Anubis was depicted in black, symbolizing the corpse’s change in colour after embalming. He was closely associated with Upuaut, another Egyptian god described as a canine or dog head
(with grey or white fur). Historians suggest that these two religious characters were eventually combined. The female analogue of Anubis is the goddess Input,
and his daughter is the goddess of embalming Kebhut, depicted as a snake.
What is the Egyptian Mummification Process?
Knowledge of anatomy was required to perform the embalming process and understand how the transition to the afterlife was the most important ritual in every person’s life.
The success of this transition depended on many factors. Still, the correct preservation of the body shell was considered one of the main ones because the spirit must recognize itself
and reunite with the body in the afterlife. The embalming procedure varied depending on the financial situation of the deceased.
In “History,” Herodotus describes three procedures of varying degrees of cost – embalming began only after the relatives chose one of the three options.
The cheapest and easiest way to mummify was to pour radish juice into the abdominal cavity of the deceased to cleanse the intestines and then put the body in soda lye for 70 days to dry.
After this period, the mummy was returned to relatives – as a rule, to poor peasants.
The second method was more expensive and included more stages. A unique tube was inserted into the anus, where cedar oil was poured,
washing the abdominal cavity. After that, the body was immersed in soda lye for several days. The embalmers then pumped the oil out of the intestines. Along with it, the decomposed entrails and stomach came out.
The dried body – skin and bones – was returned to relatives.
The third – the most expensive procedure, designed for the ancient Egyptian elite – required much more effort and skill. This instruction, compiled from the observations of Herodotus and other ancient historians, will help to conduct the ritual correctly.
1. Gather a professional team. You will need apprentices and staff to cleanse the body and remove organs and bandages, but also a priest of Osiris ( hery heb )
who will cast spells and conduct the spiritual part of the ritual?
2. Put on the Anubis mask. By managing the mummification process, you play the role of the god Anubis – it is easy to recognize him by the head of a dog or jackal. Anubis,
responsible for the burial, was in charge of the mummification of the god Osiris himself, who was killed and brutally dismembered by his brother, the evil god of rage, Seth.
After the body of Osiris was pieced together and ready for mummification, Set tried to kidnap him several times to deprive Osiris of the chance for eternal life.
But Anubis each time caught up and punished Set, saving the mummy. Thanks to his professionalism, Osiris successfully transitioned to the afterlife and led it. Since then,
the leading mummifies have worn the mask of Anubis during rituals.
When Did Egypt Stop Mummification?
Do Egyptian still do mummification?
Egyptian Mummification jars Or Canopic Jars
Canopic jars are also known as jars of the old kingdom.
In ancient Egypt, mummified organs were kept in canopic jars stored separately from the rest of the body. The mummification process included this step,
which played an essential role. Canopic jars were formed of clay, and the heads of the jars had the form of one of the four gods,
depending on which organ the jar contained: Hapy, Imsety, Duamutef, or Qebhsenef.
During the time of the Old Kingdom, when mummification was starting, the jars used for this purpose were superficial stone vessels with flat covers.
The jars did not come to possess a unique stopper from a human head until the beginning of the first intermediate era. Beginning around this period,
the bundles of viscera placed inside of them were occasionally embellished with human-faced masks. After that, starting in the 18th dynasty and continuing onwards,
the stoppers of the jars were each shaped like the head of one of the minor funerary deities known as the “four sons of Horus.” This was done to indicate which organ the jar held.
