As
farmland was precious, the early Ancient Egyptians buried their dead in the
desert. They discovered that the dry sand sucked the moisture from the body and
helped preserve it. From this early discovery a complex process of
mummification was developed.
Sand
did not leave the body looking very life like, so a substance called ‘natron’,
a mixture of salt and sodium bicarbonate and sodium carbonate was used o dry
the body out.
Priests
prepared the body for burial. First the brain was removed from the body by
pulling the brains through the nostrils with a special instrument. It was
believed to be worthless and thrown away. The heart was the most precious organ
of the body and was removed with the other internal organs though a long
incision along the stomach. All these organs were preserved. The heart was
later returned to the body. The lungs and liver stomach and intestines were
stored in four jars called ‘canopic jars’.
The
body and the organs were covered with natron and left for 40 days to dry out.
The heart was then replaced within the body, which was stuffed with linen to
help give it shape.
Next
the boy was wrapped in trip of linen. Between the layers of he wrapping special
protective charms or ‘amulets’ were placed over the body. Prayers were then
said over the body.
The mummy was then placed in a specially fitted wooden coffin. Many of these coffins were beautifully painted and decorated, sometimes with a portrait of the dead person.
