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The Role Of Mummification In Ancient Egyptian Culture

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The practice of mummification dates back to the third Dynasty, to around 2600BC, but it was only in 21st Dynasty, in c. 1000BC, that the technique was perfected. It took centuries of experiment, and repeated failures, before the ancient Egyptians mastered the complex art of preserving in their dead the appearance of the living. According to Assmann (2014), at the end of the third Dynasty, the embalmers began removing the body’s abdominal organs. This is a fact that is indirectly confirmed by the appearance of Canopic jars, the stone vessels designed to hold these organs. There are seven steps in the process of mummification which are announce the death, embalm the body, remove the brain, remove the internal organs, dry out the body, wrap the body, and execute the final possession (refer to Figure 1 in Appendix 1). The first step of the mummification is the announcement of the death. This announcement of an end to the world is rather unique in the Egyptian tradition. However, the end is deferred to a far distant time. At any rate, the world is not endless. As Assmann (2014) stated, The deceased did not want to be abducted to that place. The difference between the afterlife that was desired and that which was abhorrent is made entirely clear. The boundary is drawn, and the deceased is conveyed securely to the correct side: what this …show more content…

According to Bianchi (1982), it is known that a naturally occurring compound of sodium bicarbonate and sodium carbonate called natron is used in order to dry out or desiccate a corpse for mummification. This however remains a great debate among scientists as they are uncertain whether the natron used for drying is in solid or liquid state. There is much significant evidence that corpses were kept in a solution of bitter salt for over a month; and there were numerous lakes of bitter water in the Libyan Desert (Lamb,

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