Chapter 5: Mummification: Ancient Egypt

Afterlife - involved trials and tribulations that living and dead needed to endure to reach it

heat determined worth of spirit and its fate

Egyptians understood that brain allowed for movement

Heat considered most important organ

Believed that heart was a ‘metaphysical entity’ - embodied and source of thought, memory, wisdom, and other emotions e.g. sadness, love

Heart - center of the ‘life force’ or soul of body - without heart, a corpse lost its spirit

• determined soul’s fate in next life

“Judgement Scene” - heart weighed to determine if deceased was wicked or free of sin

to ensure deceased would be judge fairly in next life, heart often left whole in the chest

other organs removed and kept in canopic jars

Brain - removed and discarded while heart was preserved/mummified

believed mummification and being put in sarcophagus - only way to have afterlife

Sarcophagus would be inscribed with “Coffin Texts”

• instructions about challenges in the afterlife

• magical spells to navigate dangers of afterlife successfully

• began to appear for ordinary egyptians in first intermediate period (ca. 2200 BC)

royal version of coffin texts

• “Pyramid texts” - guide for pharaohs and queens

due to dangers of afterlife

• “Book of the Dead” placed in tomb with body as well as food, jewlery, and ‘curses’

Mummification Practices Over Time

• Mummy:

  • preserved human or animal corpse including skin hair flesh regardless of whether it has been created by natural or artificial methods

• In Egyptology:

  • wrapped body also referred to as a mummy when silhouette of dead person preserved (only skeletal remains may be found within wrapping)

  • Mummification includes:

    1) method for carrying out preservation of soft tissues of body

    2) ritual treatment of dead person before final burial, including embalming materials and bandages

Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egypt

• beginning in 6th millennium BC

  • most common burial position was the flexed pose

• body lay wrapped in matting in a shallow grave with burial objects placed next to it

• body originally laid with head pointing west - over time switched to east

• Upper Egypt

  • buried dead in desert areas bordering villages

  • body exposed to sun and salty desert sand

• natural likely accidental preservation

• assume natural mummification affected religion concept of a death cult

  • adopted physical preservation of body as necessary condition for afterlife

• Elite cemeteries (ca 3700 BC)

  • change in grave structures

• Grave Pits became larger

  • walls partially sealed with bricks

  • protected bodies from sun and sand but hindered natural modification

• other concepts of afterlife developing

  • ex: bodies of 3 prominent women were covered with mats with necks and hands wrapped in fine linen soaked in resin

  • one woman - throat cut after death

  • another woman - organ removed, wrapped in resin-soaked cloth and put back in body

  • possibly preservation of particular body functions

  • parts of body needed for consumption of food

• Linen-soaked resin found in graves of oldest Proto-historic burial sites such as Mostagedda (ca 4000 BC)

• Unified state in Egypt (ca 3000 BC)

• resin-soaked linen bandages

  • found with skeletal remains in necropolises of 1st and 2nd Dynasties (ca 3500 - 2700 BC) in Saqqara and Abydos

• better preserved burials in Saqqara

  • bodies in flexed poses wrapped in heavy layers of linen and buried in wooden coffins

  • soft tissue not preserved

• bodies in royal tombs of Abydos

  • few impregnated linen clothed with pieces of bones clinging to them (assigned to royal graved of Djer, Djet, Dewen, and Merneith)

• best known fragment

  • tomb complex of King Djer (ca 3000 BC)

  • lower arm wrapped in fine linen and wearing four bracelets made of gold, turquoise, lapis lazulim and amethyst

  • no preservation of skin or muscle tissues

  • arm of Djer or his wife Merneith

• understanding of how dead handled during pre and protohisotric eras incomplete

• few bodies dismembered or had skin and muscle tissues removed from bones long before burial but certainly after death

• other bodies

  • first signs of mummification techniques

  • linen wrappings body modification

• following era

  • ritual texts of the dead

    • written description of concepts connected to dismemberment

Pyramid Texts

• first appeared during reign of Unas (last ruler of 5th dynasty)

• oldest written records from which Egyptian concept of afterlife known

• over 700 individual spells

  • give incongruous sometimes contradictory ideas

• impossible to say how far back in early history maybe 1000 years earlier ideas existed that considered reuniting limbs separated by death

• during preparation of dead in later eras

  • restoration of intact body is very important

  • produced by bandaging and embalming

The Old Kingdom

• 3rd-6th Dynasties (ca 2700-2200 BC)

• characterized by great architectural monuments of stone above all the pyramids

• chronology of mummification techniques royal settings

• around 2600 BC

  • removal of internal organs (evisceration)

  • common procedure

• beginning of 4th dynasty

  • only indirect proof of evisceration

  • niches in grave walls each with 4 compartments

  • may have contained four organs: stomach, intestines, lungs, liver

• Viscera

  • extracted and saved in later eras in canopic jars or chests

• earliest evidence of canopic container

  • tomb of Hetepheres I, mother of Khufu

• linen wrapped viscera

  • kept in alabaster chest with 4 compartments

• fluid adhering to linen

  • 3% natron solution

• Tomb of Meresankh III (granddaughter of Khufu and wife of Khafra)

  • oldest evidence for preservation of organs in 4 canopic jars then placed in canopic chest

• no evidence of extraction of brain on a regular basis

• few individual cases indicate experimental phase

• once removal of inner organs part of mummification process

  • bodies placed on backs for the burial

• Next step in mummification practice typified by the mummy of a civilian, Ranefer (4th or 5th Dynasty, ca. 2500 BC).

• Organs wrapped in linen and stored in a niche.

• Linen-wrapped head

  • eyes, eyebrows, hair, and a mouth painted on it

• Shapes of body parts had been reproduced

• Body completely wrapped in resin-soaked cloths and bandages.

• New procedure

  • abdomen stuffed with resin-soaked linen.

• Tradition lasted initially until end of Old Kingdom

  • other mummies from Saqqara, Giza, and Abusir.

• Parts of human body (including genitals)

  • reconstructed with linen bandages and resin.

• End of Old Kingdom

  • separate cartonnage (scraps of linen or papyrus glued together with resin) funerary masks appeared

  • distinguishing feature of Egyptian mummies.

• Full body coverings made of several layers of plaster with carefully reconstructed facial features (fitted onto bandaged contours of body)

  • common in 5th and 6th Dynasties (ca. 2500 – 2200 BC).

The Old Kingdom - Afterlife

• End of Old Kingdom

  • concept of afterworld/life established.

• Osiris:

  • ruler of Egypt and successor of father (Geb – earth; mother Nut - sky)

  • killed by brother and rival for royal throne (Seth).

• Seth dismembered Osiris

  • scattered limbs throughout Egypt.

• Osiris' sisters (Isis, Nephthys):

  • searched for body parts and put brother's body back together.

• Archetypal mummification:

  • Osiris resurrected and had son (Horace) with Isis.

  • Horace avenged father's killing and became new ruler of
    Egypt.

• From this time on:

  • Osiris: ruler of afterworld.

• Upon burial:

  • deceased received “Osiris name”

  • identify them to Osiris in afterworld and allow existence in afterlife.

• Complemented older mummification practices.

• Preservation of bodies and care given to buried:

  • essential for continued existence in afterlife.

• Missing body parts:

  • restored or replaced.

• Attempts made to preserve soft tissues:

  • any decomposition, violation, or neglect of corpse would extinguish person.

• Body had to be supplied regularly with food:

  • done by magic, through images/sacrificial texts.

• Tomb had to be maintained:

  • meeting place for transfigured dead and living.

• Life in afterworld:

  • supposed to be like life on Earth.

• Three constituents made-up a person – the Ba, the Ka, and the Akh

• Ba:

  • established connection with dead body - became separated from the body at death but was able to fly in form of a bird between this world and next and always return to body.

• Ka:

  • concept of a moral character – person's double to which social categories, such as honor, dignity, and
    status, were tied.

• After death:

  • Ka separated from body and was able to confront the deceased.

• Akh

  • spirit of transfigured dead person.

• One of aims of funerary rites

  • carry the dead person across in Akh form and make them into glorified ancestral spirit.

• Religious recitation texts needed for this

  • available to ordinary citizens starting in late Old Kingdom.

• Through embalming and mummification rights

  • person reconstructed, reintegrated, and conveyed in living form

  • be able to enter into another realm of life.

The First Intermediate Period and the Middle Kingdom

• First Intermediate Period (ca. 2200 BC)

  • collapse of central authority in Egypt when local rulers gained power.

• Practice of using coffins and wrapping dead:

  • spread to provincial cemeteries and poorer people.

• Egypt

  • not reunited until rule of Upper Egypt until Middle Kingdom (ca. 2100 – 1790 BC).

• Autonomous local rulers:

  • no longer had themselves buried near king

  • built their own necropolises.

• Mummification techniques

  • diverse due in part to different financial means.

• Cartonnage masks

  • first appeared at end of 6th Dynasty

  • now in majority of mummies.

• Reign of Mentuhotep II (ca. 2000 BC)

  • developed into anthropoid coffin type

  • for mummies of especially high-ranking individuals.

• Considerable amounts of linen cloth used for wrapping.

• Body parts:

  • not only wrapped individually and bandaged together to form the typical mummy shape

  • finished mummy then sometimes wrapped in more layers of linen - cocoon.

  • For example - mummy of Wah (11th Dynasty) - in Thebes - amulets providing protection placed in the layers of linen.

• As in Old Kingdom

  • linen sometimes partially coated with resin

  • resin not applied directly to skin fungicidal and anti-bacterial properties do not aid in preservation

• Natron

  • most important means of preserving soft tissues since Middle Kingdom.

• Removal of viscera and contents of skull (in some cases).

• Brain removal rare

  • only wealthier classes.

• In New Kingdom (from ca. 1550 BC)

  • trans-nasal brain removal more common.

• 30 cm long hooked metal rod

  • inserted through left nostril perforating the ethmoid bone.

• Hook

  • used to crush brain then removed through nose.

• Viscera removed through abdominal wall

  • left side usually cut open.

• From the 12th Dynasty (ca. 1990 BC onwards)

  • heated resin applied directly to skin.

• Senebtisi from Lisht (12th Dynasty).

• Body laid left side (typical during Middle Kingdom); face pointing east.

• Inner organs

  • removed through incision on left side of abdomen.

• Heart, wrapped in linen

  • replaced in correct position in body.

• Abdominal cavity then stuffed with resin-soaked cloth and sealed with resin.

• Brain left in skull.

• Mummy - in anthropoid coffin - then covered in pitch.

• After organs removed:

  • empty abdominal cavity filled with linens (sometimes sawdust).

• After removal:

  • inner organs stored in four canopic jars.

• Brain - discarded.

• Shape of the jars changed over time - but always four of them.

• From First Intermediate Period onwards:

  • lids featured human heads.

• Starting in Middle Kingdom:

  • containers display inscriptions putting them under protection of four sons of Horace (Amset, Hapi, Qebehsenuef, and Duamutef).

• Occasionally - tombs with canopic jars found - although internal organs still in body.

• Jars:

  • significance far greater than simply containers for stomach (Duamutef), intestines (Qebehsenuef), liver (Amset), and lungs (Hapi)

The New Kingdom

• Very good condition of mummies of rulers of New Kingdom (ca. 1550 – 1070 BC) in Valley of the Kings.

• Most tombs looted – Tutankhamun – most famous exception.

• Caches

  • established for reburial of defiled mummies from Valley -ensure existence in afterlife.

• Two caches found – end of 19th century.
  1. Deir el-Bahri - contained 40 mummies – 10 pharaohs.
  2. Valley of the Kings - 16 mummies – 9 pharaohs.

• Following reburial

  • mummies remained untouched for nearly 3000 years.

• Modern analyses

  • doubts concerning accuracy of royal names that priests inscribed on some coffins and mummy wrappings at time of reburial.

• Mummification technology

  • reconstructed from preserved mummies (varied by pharaoh).

• Trans-nasal brain removal - standard practice.

• Resin

  • applied generously to skin, poured through the nose into brain cavity, used in form of plugs inserted into nasal and oral orifices

  • occasionally into the anus, used as glue to seal the incision made into left side of abdomen (then covered by thin sheet of gold).

• Heart

  • always remained in body (sometimes with linen wrappings)

• After removal of organs

  • body cavities cleansed with water and wine

  • then stuffed with natron, resin, and/or linen.

• After drying, embalming, and wrapping

  • organs placed in canopic jars

  • sometimes had lids decorated with characteristic heads of the four sons of Horace

  • Amset (human head - liver)

  • Hapi (baboon head - lungs)

  • Duamutef (jackal head - stomach)

  • Qebehsenuef (falcon head - intestines).

• Cleansing and drying phases

  • began 4 days after death

  • lasted about 48 days.

• After

  • adornment of outer appearance (artificial hair extensions, hair dyeing, blackened eyebrows, and other aesthetic modifications).

• Then mummy wrapped from head to foot

  • amulets placed between linen bandages

  • given its shape by stuffing its body cavities.

• Body

  • placed in coffin (in some cases, covered with layer of resin).

• Embalming and wrapping

  • about 14 days, 70 days ideally needed for entire process.

• Drying agents, ointments, and linen cloths used, along with remains of hair and nails from embalmed body

  • stored separately in containers or coffins and buried near mummy’s tomb.

• Toward end of 18th Dynasty

  • artificial eyes first added

  • painted pieces of linen applied over eye sockets.

• During 20th Dynasty (ca. 1180 – 1070 BC) and continuing into Third Intermediate Period (ca. 1070– 525 BC)

  • small onions placed under eyelids.

  • For example, onion bulbs found over compressed eyeballs of Ramses IV (3rd king of 20th Dynasty).

• Onions

  • also wrapped into other parts of body and identified with teeth of Osiris as far back as Pyramid Texts.

  • important role as cult objects in feast celebrating the regeneration of the mummified Sokar-Osiris.

  • also have antibacterial properties

• Careful bandaging of mummies.

  • For example, mummy of Ramses II

  • small animal bones used to bandage nose in such a way that nostrils remained open.

• Great importance given nose

  • where breath of life entered the body.

• Why act of smashing nose of a statue of deceased person

  • very serious punishment

  • since victim would be denied existence in the afterlife.

• Importance given to preservation of fingernails and toenails

  • tied to extremities

  • prevent them from falling off during embalming process.

• In New Kingdom

  • any missing body parts

  • reconstructed and replaced during mummification process (using bandages, resin, or wood)

The Third Intermediate Period

• Art of embalming

  • reached pinnacle during 21st Dynasty (ca. 1000 BC).

• Many royal bodies

  • moved to caches.

• Possible for embalmers to notice any technical faults when viewing mummies of previous generations.

• Resulted in change in techniques.

• Skin cut open on many places of dead body and inner surface lined with sawdust, linen, resin, or mud – body retain its shape despite desiccation.

• In a few cases

  • excessive padding

  • unnatural appearance or skin bursting open.

• Head and body

  • painted in colors from paintings and statues (red =a man; yellow = woman).

• By 21st Dynasty

  • burial of inner organs outside body ceased.

• Organs

  • removed through side abdomen

  • placed back body, often with wax figures of protective deities

• Brain still removed through nose.

• Skull and body cavities - filled with melted resin.

After Third Intermediate Period

• By 22nd Dynasty (ca. 950 BC)

  • shaping the body underneath the skin declined.

• Instead returned to shaping outer structure through additional linen.

• No royal mummies preserved

  • Late Period (746 – 332 BC) or Ptolemaic Period (332 – 230 BC).

• Many questions

  • Did practice fall out of favor among kings and queens of Egypt?

• Mummification continued - methods changed.

  • For example, in Late Period

  • internal organs (after embalming) - placed between thighs or calves of deceased.

• Canopic jars in tombs - purely symbolic function.

• Mummification in Ptolemaic Period

  • various techniques followed local customs.

The Embalming Ritual

• Ancient Egyptian texts

  • do not describe methods used for cleaning and drying corpse.

• Techniques of wrapping and embalming

  • found in “Embalming Ritual”.

• Ritual

  • preserved fragmentarily in two papyri from 1st century AD.

• Written 2500 years after Pyramid Texts.

• Deceased

  • still identified with Osiris, whose fate they undergo to continue living in eternity.

• Embalming Ritual

  • depicted corpse as lifeless and dismembered body.

• Dismemberment

  • overcome through bandaging, surgical intervention, and mummification agents (‘drugs’).

• Accompanied by spells magically bring body back together as well.

• Mummy - created in image of God Osiris.

• Inclusion of funerary possessions

  • “Opening of the Mouth” ritual and rituals of protection at tomb.

Most Important Embalming Agents

• Evidence for agents

  • found in ancient texts and material remaining on mummies and in vessels.

• Analyzing text sources (e.g., Embalming Ritual, vessels in tombs) problematic.

• Why? - ingredients named cannot be identified with certainty.

• Only natron, asphalt, wax, pitch, and myrrh

  • safely translated from historic meaning.

• Natron

  • desiccant in mummification

  • mixture of sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, and smaller amounts of sodium chloride and sodium sulphate.

• Desiccating effect

  • mainly from crystallized sodium carbonate.

• Dehydration

  • hastened by repeatedly replacing layers of salt (natron).

• Wood shavings and linen - also used to support process.

• After dehydration

  • body was treated with ointments and resins, sometimes also bitumen.

• Egyptian word for bitumen

  • not encountered until New Kingdom, but probably already used

• Used seal structures against water

  • adapted for embalming corpses.

• Bitumen

  • late appearance (during the 20th Dynasty).

• Analysis of mummies

  • first evidence of bitumen in 9th century BC (22nd Dynasty).

• Like resin and beeswax

  • bitumen softened when heated and was alone or in combination with other salve ingredients.

  • Evidence of blending bitumen with animal and vegetable oils.

  • Bitumen protected natron

  • dried bodies from rehydration and subsequent decomposition.

• Beeswax

  • similar effect to bitumen

  • used in mummification beginning in Middle Kingdom.

• Resins

  • already applied to linen in 4000 BC.

• Antiseptic properties

  • effective only when in direct contact with skin.

• Resin in mummies

  • mainly from conifers (Aleppo pine)

• Embalming agent - imported

• Starting in 18th Dynasty

  • resin from cedars used in mummification

• Viscous spreadable preparation

  • obtained by warming resin

  • but heating it at high temperature under airtight conditions created pitch (viscous dark brown substance).

• Shrouds from Roman period

  • featured Anubis

  • the God of the Dead

  • cooking resin on stove

• Antibacterial and antifungal properties of wood tars (resins).

• Myrrh

  • imported and among most precious ingredients

  • used to repel liquid from desiccated mummy

• Liquid gum resin

  • seeps out of cracks in tree bark and hardens on contact with air