One of the secrets that had all the scientists stunned is who the pharaohs managed to maintain the dead bodies with an act called Mummification. This is is the process of preserving bodies after death, it has a rich history spanning thousands of years. It stands as a testament to human fascination with immortality and reverence for the deceased.
Among all other forms of mummification, Egyptian mummification is perhaps the most popular and the most elaborate. It started from 2600 BCE and had a deep connection to religious beliefs concerning the afterlife journey. These are the steps they follow in the Egyptian mummification:
Mummification Process:
1) Clean the body
First of all, they were preparing themselves by removing inner organs from the body. A hook was used to extract a brain through the nose while an incision on the left part of the body allowed for removal of body organs except for the heart which was left intact. The internal organs were stored separately into canopic jars.
Secondly, they apply natron onto it so as to dry up its parts thus preventing decomposition. Therefore, this led to complete drying up of dead bodies covered by naturally occurring salt mixture that absorbed water from tissues. The time taken before removing dead bodies from natron lasted for almost 40 days.
Afterward, they remove carefully all natron along with any remaining internal following the drying period that they had done on him/her. once the body cavities all clean out then filled with linen or other materials so as to give them more natural shape.
2) Wrap the body
Thereafter they wrap each body would in numerous layers of linen bandages very carefully. Sometimes they place amulets and talismans within those layers so as to protect the deceased in their next life but one; at times they wrote spells from the book of death on linen that could guide spirits back home again.
And lastly the mummified body will then placed in a coffin, often inside a tomb filled with all the creature comforts and supplies for the afterlife. To protect the deceased and their belongings from grave robbers, they seal the tomb.
And after all these years of searching and trying to figure out this spectacular mystery. The Modern scientific techniques such as CT scanning and DNA analysis have provided new insights into mummification practices, giving us the chance to get to know ancient medical knowledge, diet, and diseases. Archaeologists still find the Mummies till today, which helps us learn more about the beliefs and traditions of the past.
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