Mummification is the preservation of the body of a dead person or animal. The Egyptians were absolute masters at this craft. It not known exactly when this practice first began, but there is evidence dating back to the Pre-Dynastic Period showing bodies in fetal positions placed in shallow graves or tombs and mummified by the sand, intense sun and heat. During the New Kingdom is when the art is truly perfected as shown by the picture of Ramesses II.
The process of mummification is complex. There are
actually 70 steps which need to be carried out over 70 days. The main
stages are as follows:
 | 1) Removal of the brain through the
nostrils 2) Removal of the intestines through an incision in the side 3) Sterilization of the body and intestines 4) Treating, cleaning, dehydrating the intestines 5) Packing the body with natron (a natural dehydrating agent) and leaving for 40 days 6) Removal of the natron agent 7) Packing the limbs with clay or sand 8) Packing the body with linen (soaked in resin), myrrh and cinnamon 9) Treating the body with ointments and finally wrapping with a fine linen gauze, not less than 1000 square yards |
Finally the body or mummy was placed in a coffin, usually in the shape of the corpse. Sometimes several coffins were placed one inside the other, and then these were in turn placed inside a stone sarcophagus. The internal organs, such as the stomach, intestines, and liver were mummified as well and then placed in canopic jars made of alabaster. The jars were then placed near the sarcophagus in the tomb or in some cases between the legs of the mummy itself. The process of mummification was usually for the wealthy such as royalty, nobles, or scribes. The poorer people merely wrapped their deceased in linen and placed in shallow graves in the sand.
