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Ancient Mummification By Andrew Hrisak

Life is full of mysteries. One mystery that has riddled both the modern and ancient worlds is death. The Egyptians believed like many other civilizations that death was simply a pass through to eternal life but to get there you had to be preserved through mummification. Mummification in Africa is an interesting topic dating back thousands of years.

In the documentary “Egypt beyond the Pyramids Part 4: 2-1” the director wants the viewer to gain a brief understanding of how and why the Egyptians mummified their dead and their progress over time. The documentary began with the narrator talking about the book of the dead, a set of instruction on the walls of the tomb which was meant to help direct the spirit.

The book of the dead which is the key to the soul finding its body in the underworld and is the first step of the souls journey through the underworld. The director uses the book of the dead  to symbolize the beginning of the documentary since the book of the dead is the beginning of the souls journey. The documentary ended talking about the final steps in the mummification process, embalming, wrapping and covering the mummy. It ended with the final steps of the mummification process to symbolize the ending of the documentary. The director makes us feel as if the mummification process in Egypt is a very large part of human history with a very strong and factual tone and chemical processes.

The Egyptians believed that the bodies of the dead needed to be kept recognizable so the soul could find its body. They also believed that if the body was not preserved there would be no way for the person to live after death. After the soul found its body it was judged and if it was deemed “not worthy” it would be thrown into hell. The Egyptians feared that being sent to hell would bring with it eternal suffering. If you were lucky you would be fed to the beast Ahmed. At first mummies were preserved naturally with the help of the hot desert sun which dried of out the body before it could rot. By 3400 B.C. upper class egyptians could be buried in above ground towns but without the dry sand and sun of the desert the bodies decomposed quickly. Since the egyptians knew that the organs where the first to decay the began removing them around 2600 B. C.. Organs includes the stomach, lungs, liver and intestines. Each organ was placed in its own jar next to the mummy. Like in modern times egyptian families could choose what sort of mummification process they wanted to be performed on the body. Also like modern times the mummification processes used greatly depended on the families wealth. The mummification process for pharaohs took around 40 days to complete. Much of this time was spent applying the body with minerals which included resins, frankincense, mir, cinnamon, and beeswax. The eyes would be stuffed with onions to keep them from drying and receding into the head. After the body was prepared it was covered in linen and place in a sarcophagus.

The video “Mummification (How an Ancient Egyptian Mummy was Made)” created by Simple History shed more light into the process of mummification. The video goes on to give many more important facts about mummification. Egyptians believed that death was a temporary state between life on earth and life in the underworld. For the mummification process the body was first washed with water and salt to clean it. The brain was taken out through the nose with a hook while the heart was left in. Depending on the wealth of the family some bodies were stuffed with spices, others where injected with oils and other where even put in a salt bath for up to 70 days. Most of the pharaohs also had wigs and stone eyes to make them look more life like. These mummies were often accompanied in their tombs by their clothing, jewelry and even animals.

A documentary called “Mummification Pre-Egypt Long Lost Secrets of Libya’s Black Mummy” made by the discovery channel claims that Egyptians were in fact not the first to mummify. In the documentary it talks about a mummified body found in Libya in the late 1950’s. Though the documentary did give factual evidence much of it was outdated. A book published by Cambridge University in the 1980’s provides evidence that states that the dating of the animal skin the mummified child was wrapped in is between 5585 BP and 5225 BP (BP meaning before physics 1950). Though this was once believed to be the oldest mummified human in the world new studies complicate that claim. An article from LiveScience.com states that new evidence from linens of mummies has found that Egyptians began mummifying the dead between 4500 B.C. and 3100 B.C. or between 6450 BP and 5050 BP. Scientists found animal fats along with pine resin and other chemicals on the linens showing that mummies were in fact mummifying around the time the Black Mummy was mummified. Due to this relatively new discovery it seems that the Black Mummy is not the oldest mummy in the world though, because of the large date ranges we cannot truly determine which is older.

From this assignment I learned that to have a well put together article that is reliable and factual you need many sources. I also learned that facts are always changing and you need to always be on the lookout for new evidence that contradicts your articles.In my article I showed digital responsibility for my content by finding the same evidence from multiple sources to make sure all of the facts where reliable and correct. I did not put anything in my article that is not factual just because it might prove my point. I only used reliable sources and included facts that may have even gone against my opinion but did not disclude them for that same reason. Mummification is a remarkable subject that dates back thousands of years and is definitely a topic everyone should be interested in.

Works Cited

Dawson, W.R. “Human Mummy.” The British Museum,

www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?object

Id=117645&partId=1.

Gannon, Megan. “Oldest Evidence for Egyptian Mummy Making Discovered.” LiveScience,

Purch, 13 Aug. 2014,www.livescience.com/47335-oldest-egyptian-mummy-making.html.

logicsolutioncompany. “Egypt Beyond the Pyramids part4 (2-1).” YouTube, YouTube, 24 Feb.

2010, www.youtube.com/watch?v=mj9uw-p3rEQ.

“Mummies, Disease and Ancient Cultures.” Edited by Aidan Cockburn et al., Google Books,

books.google.com/books?id=8KZHa5vHOS0C&pg=PA282&lpg=PA282&dq=uan%2B

muhuggiag%2Bmummy&source=bl&ots=FiHk6ymHZE&sig=mPG_w0KgKzmU0vUu-

Z2vGhBVDsI&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjoiKD-5qbZAhUDYKwKHe58Bjs4ChDo

AQg1MAM#v=onepage&q=uan%20muhuggiag%20mummy&f=false

Simple History. Mummification (How an Ancient Egyptian Mummy Was Made). Youtube, 9 Jan.

2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FiM8S2_nSg.

“Secrets of Libya's Black Mummy and the Long Lost North Africans.” YouTube, YouTube, 18

Oct. 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkQgUeupxn8.

Mummy Games

http://discoverykids.com/games/mummy-maker/

https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/games/interactiveadventures/tomb-unknown-mummy/