IT IS SURPRISING THAT NOT EVERYONE WAS MUMMIFIED!
The eviscerated, dried and bandaged corpse – has become a defining Egyptian artifact. Mummification, however, was an expensive and time-consuming process, reserved for the more wealthy members of society.
The vast majority of Egypt’s dead were buried in simple pits in the desert. So why did the elite feel the need to mummify their dead?
They believed that it was possible to live again after death, but only if the body retained a recognizable human form. Ironically, this could have been achieved quite easily by burying the dead in direct contact with the hot and sterile desert sand. Natural desiccation would then have occurred.
But the elite wanted to be buried in coffins within tombs, and this meant that their corpses, no longer in direct contact with the sand, started to rot. The twin requirements of elaborate burial equipment plus a recognizable body led to the science of artificial mummification.
Seven steps of mummification:
• the body was washed and purified
• bodily organs were removed
• the body was filled with stuffing
• the body was soaked in natron salts to dry it out
• after 40 plus days, the stuffing was removed and replaced
• the body was wrapped in linen strips
• the mummy was shrouded and placed in a sarcophagus
In Egypt, the dead Pharaohs (Kings) were not the only people who got Mummified. Mummification of animals, particularly Cats, was also done along with the Kings. Cats, in Egypt, have been thought of as a very sacred animal that is often considered to be the harbinger of Good Luck. It was also commonly advocated that Cats could kill vermin and even poisonous snakes, because of which they were worshiped in ancient Egypt. Many Pharaohs were buried with their mummified pet cats.
How do mummies keep such good secrets? They keep them under wraps!
