A mummy is a dead body or corpse that has been preserved so that it does not rot or decay. The process of preserving the body is called mummification. The Egyptians were extremely interested in mummification because they believed that the dead would need their bodies in the afterlife. They did not believe that death was final. Instead, they viewed it as a prelude to the afterlife. They also believed that everlasting life could be ensured by being pious to the gods, by mummifying the dead, and by providing equipment in tombs for the afterlife. They believed that each person had a life-force or ka, (a word that cannot be translated into English), that continued to live after a person died. It was important to preserve the body so that the ka could still recognize it. The ka needed to return to the body because it was still dependent on food to keep living. Food offerings were left in the tombs which the ka would inhale and the priests would then eat.
The process of mummification involved cleaning the body, inside and out. The organs and intestines had to be removed before the body could be preserved. Using one method, the brain was removed through the nose with an iron hook and the other organs and the intestines were taken out through a cut made in the side of the body. Then the inside of the body was cleaned and the cut was sewn up again. The removed liver, lungs, stomach, and intestines were placed in containers called canopic jars which were placed inside the body cavity or with the body in the tomb. Some of these jars had stoppers shaped like human or animal heads representing funerary gods. It was believed that these gods would ward off evil forces. A natural substance called natron which is mostly made up of sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate was used to preserve the body. The corpse was covered with natron for seventy days, then rinsed and washed again, and finally wrapped in several meters of linen bandages. After this process was completed the mummy was placed in a wooden coffin shaped like either a box or a person.
The process of mummification was a ritual with specific steps that had to be repeated each time. The Egyptians believed that one of their most important gods, Osiris, the god of death and resurrection, was the first to be mummified. Because of this tradition the people that oversaw the process of mummification held the title of priests.
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