Mummification in Egypt Mummification Refers

Mummification in Egypt

Mummification refers to the process by means of which a human or animal body was preserved in ancient times. Research on mummies can reveal a great deal about the lifestyle of ancient people. However not all mummies are found in good condition. Some of the Egyptian mummies are "more than 5,000 years old" and "consist of hardly more than bones, skin, and hair, owing their preservation largely to the dry air of Upper Egypt." (Encyclopedia) Embalming was the process used to preserve the bodies. And this was a highly sophisticated and advanced technique which helped in preserving both human as well as animal bodies. The process of mummification was connected with ancient religious beliefs and it was felt that preservation might help in deciding the ultimate fate of the soul.

Cremation has been a well-known practice in ancient burial and funeral history but preservation of bodies had also been a common practice. Initially only monarchs and pharaohs were mummified but later commoners also started receiving this treatment and some animals were also preserved since they were considered sacred. Ancient Eyptians believed in giving "permanence to the mortal remains either in an "everlasting tomb" or through a process of natural or artificial preservation of the body. This was most conspicuous in prehistoric Egypt, where frequently the dead were buried in the hot dry desert sand, which was often impregnated with natronous compounds, so that decomposition was arrested for an indefinite period, as in the case of the natural mummies in the more recent saltpetre caves in New Mexico." (James, 1957: 109)

Egyptians are the ones who started mummification procedure, however instances of this are also found in parts of the world that originally formed the Inca civilization. Since Egyptians were religious people, Herodotus, the ancient writer, has written in details about the practices that existed in those times. He has also described the mummification process, at different occasions in ancient religious texts but these details are not thorough. David (2000) has studied the references made in old religious texts and finds that Herodotus had given details of "the three basic methods of mummification. These, available according to cost, included the 'most perfect process', which involved the evisceration of the body and subsequent dehydration of the body tissues by means of natron; a second-quality treatment when the intestines were not removed, but oil of cedar was injected into the body to liquify the internal organs so that they could be easily expelled from the body; and a third method by which the intestines were cleared out with a purge, and the body was dehydrated by treating it with natron for a period of seventy days. Scientific investigations carried out in the late twentieth century have mainly supported the accuracy of Herodotus' description of mummification." (p. 54)

The accounts given by Herodotus may lack some discrepancies but they are considered an important source of information on this ancient technique. Subsequent researches and modern analyses have revealed even more about the ancient method of body preservation. Grafton Elliot Smith (1871-1937) has been well-known for his work in this field. He was Australian anatomist and anthropologist who examined human remains during his stay in Egypt. While some of his theoretical work was later found to contain inaccuracies, his examination of "thousands of human remains discovered in the Archaeological Survey of Nubia, and of the royal mummies in the Cairo Museum, was of outstanding value." (David: 165) Other important studies were conducted by J.E. Harris and K. Weeks (1973) and Harris and E. Wente (1980) and they provided "further information about mummification techniques such as arm position, presence of artifacts, and brain removal, as well as about age at death, aspects of genealogy of the royal family, and their dental conditions." (165)

But humans were not the only ones who received this kind of treatment, sacred animals were also preserved using various techniques of mummification. Some animals were actually considered "incarnations of gods" (Owen). Animals were seen as spirits of gods as Owen (2004) explains "cats were seen as the incarnation of Bastet, goddess of music and joy and protector of women. The Apis bull, a sacred animal to the Egyptians, came to be known as the incarnation of Osiris, god of embalming and cemeteries. Likewise, ancient Egyptians associated hawks with Horus (the god of light), ibises with Thoth (the god of wisdom and learning), and so on."

For this reason, Egyptians would mummify millions of sacred animals such as cats, cows and birds. Since animals were mummified in vast numbers, it was felt their mummification process was probably not as sophisticated as that of animals. However it was later found that elaborate methods were used to preserve these creatures as well. According to a report by National Geographic magazine, researchers at the University of Bristol, England studied four animal mummies and found that "Chemicals detected in tissue samples from the animal mummies revealed the presence of various natural products found in human embalming materials used by the ancient Egyptians. These included animal fats, oils, beeswax, sugar gum, bitumen, and pine tree resins. The researchers found these products had also been applied to the bandages used to wrap up the mummies." (Owen, 2004)