Ancient writers, modern scientists, and the mummies themselves all help us better understand the Egyptian mummification process and the culture in which it existed. Much of what we know about the actual process is based on the writings of early historians such as Herodotus who carefully recorded the process during his travels to Egypt around BCE.
Present-day archaeologists and other specialists are adding to this knowledge. The development of x-rays now makes it possible to x-ray mummies without destroying the elaborate outer wrappings. By studying the x-rays or performing autopsies on unwrapped bodies, experts are learning more about diseases suffered by the Egyptians and their medical treatment.
A better idea of average height and life span comes from studying the bones. By learning their age at death, the order and dates of the Egyptian kings becomes a little clearer. Even ties of kinship in the royal line can be suggested by the striking similarities or dissimilarities in the skulls of pharaohs that followed one another. Dead now for thousands of years, the mummy continues to speak to us. Ancient Egypt Egyptian Mummies.
Process The mummification process took seventy days. Who Was Mummified After death, the pharaohs of Egypt usually were mummified and buried in elaborate tombs. The Study of Mummies Today Ancient writers, modern scientists, and the mummies themselves all help us better understand the Egyptian mummification process and the culture in which it existed.
Mummy Mask. Mummy Of Cat. Smithsonian American Art Museum Mask. Fragment Of Mummy Coffin Cartonnage. Mummy Coffin Model Of Wood. Wood Mummy Mask. Piece Of Mummy Cartonnage. Shabti, Mummy Model Of Alabaster. Of Mummy Mask. Head Of Mummified Cat. Mummy Of Cat, Wrapped Linen. Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Inlay of mummy figure with human head. Mummy Of "Kitten". Mummified Cat. Mummied Ibis. Mummy, Baboon. Wrapped Mummy Of A Kestrel.
Back to Top. This was why the Egyptians placed such importance on mummification, and why the procedure was undertaken with meticulous care. Unfortunately, there is little discussion of the actual process of mummification in ancient Egyptian texts, at least in the ones that have survived. What is discussed, Lucarelli noted, are the rituals involved in mummification rather than the nuts and bolts of the process. Instead, the particulars of the practice have come down to us largely through non-Egyptian sources, such as the 5th century Greek writer Herodotus lived — B.
In his famous work " The Histories ," he described three levels of mummification, each distinguished from the other based on the effort and elaborateness of the process. Related: Image gallery: Mummy evisceration techniques. The most elaborate method involved the removal of the brain and many of the internal organs first, especially the contents of the abdomen. The brain was typically removed using a curved metal implement that was inserted through the nostrils, while the other organs were removed by hand after an incision was made along the stomach.
The empty cavity was filled with a variety of aromatic spices, such as myrrh and cassia made from the bark of evergreen trees , before the body was stitched up. The deceased was then covered in salt for 70 days to remove all moisture. After 70 days had passed, the body was washed and wrapped in linen.
A sticky resin was applied to make sure the bandages adhered to the body. Macaulay, Related: Photos: The amazing mummies of Peru and Egypt. A few hundred years later, Greek historian Diodorus Siculus lived 30 — 90 B. In his book, " Library of History ," Siculus noted that the men who performed the mummification, called embalmers, were skilled artisans who learned the skill as a family business.
He wrote that embalmers were "considered worthy of every honor and consideration, associating with the priests and even coming and going in the temples without hindrance. Egyptian mummification gradually faded out in the fourth century, when Rome ruled Egypt. Today, except for very rare instances , mummification is a lost art. Most societies consider it bizarre or archaic; a leftover from a bygone time. But echoes of the process can nonetheless be seen in modern funeral homes where embalming the dead plays a role in honoring our loved ones.
Tom Garlinghouse is a journalist specializing in general science stories. He has a Ph. He is also a novelist whose first novel Mind Fields , was recently published by Open-Books. Egyptian mummification became a lost art around the 4th century A. But because Egyptians were masters at preserving the dead, mummies have provided us with a glimpse into the rich culture and traditions of this ancient civilization.
But that's not to say corpse preservation is, well, dead. Mummification wasn't limited to Eqypt, and, in some ways, the tradition also has transcended time. Modern-day people in Papua New Guinea still mummify the deceased. Beyond that, funeral homes in the West often embalm dead bodies to slow decomposition and allow time for ceremonies to take place. Even anatomical laboratories are known to use techniques that preserve bodies for medical purposes and education.
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