Mummification process. 4th grade A.

Mummies from Cairo Museum.

Mummies are one of the most representative symbols of ancient Egypt. Here I will tell you about them.

What is a mummy?

Basically a mummy is a dead dried body. The idea is to extract the water of the corpse in order to preserve it. 

Why ancient egyptians mummified bodies? This is about religion. Ancient egyptians belived that there was an afterlife, a paradise. And for going there, the dead person needed a preserved body. If not, the soul of the deceased would become a ghost, wandering by the desert for eternity.

Mummification process.

Every egyptian was mummified? No. mummification was a very expensive process. So, only Pharaos and rich people could afford it.

And how did they make mummies? Mummification was a long and complex process. Here I will expose some of the main steps:

1. To remove the internal organs. Internal organs have a great ammount of water; so they must be removed, because water and moisture produce the corruption of the body. Intestines, stomach, liver, kidneys... where put aside in the canopic jars. 
2. To bury the corpse in salt. Once the organs removed, the body was introduced in natron; a special salt. The salt dried the body in a span of time between 40 and 70 days (one day in salt per kilo of mass)
3. To wrap the body in linen bandages. Once the corpse was dry (cured) it was time for wrapping it. Meters and meters of linen were used for a single mummy. Amulets were inserted between the bandages in order to protect the mummy in its jounery to Heaven.