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Role Of Mummification In Ancient Egypt

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Ancient Egyptians had many beliefs that were executed during and after the individual’s life. The mummification practice ensured that they had a place to practice their beliefs in the next life. This was the process of preserving and embalming a dead body in the belief that the body would be necessary in the Ancient Egyptian afterlife. This had a huge impact on the amount of knowledge that they gained about human and animal anatomy. The body was the vessel that could then act as a bridge between the spirits of the deceased and the offerings provided by the living.
The mummifying process can be dated as far back to the Fourth Dynasty. Before, bodies would undergo a natural preservation by being buried in shallow graves in the sand. The combination …show more content…

Then using a stick or small hooked tool to liquefy the brain, they remove it through the nasal cavity. A cut was made in the left side of the body to remove the internal organs. After the internal organs were removed, they were placed in a canopic jar. The jars were in sets of four, and each the four sons of Horus were assigned the duty of protecting the jar. Qebehsenuef the falcon-headed god looked after the intestines. Imsty the human-headed god looked after the liver. Hapy the baboon-headed god looked after the lungs. Duamutef the jackal-headed god looked after the stomach. Qebehsenuef the falcon-headed god looked after the intestines. Then the deceased was laid out under a mound of natron salts, the key ingredient to preserve and dry a body. This is a natural salt, composed of sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate with traces of sodium chloride and sodium sulfate. The salt absorbed all the moisture and the skin shrank and darkened. Finally, the body was washed out and wrapped in linen from head to toe. During the wrapping process the embalmer places amulets in between the layers to protect the body. The Isis Knot amulets protects the body while the Plummet amulet keeps the body balanced on its journey to their afterlife. The brain began to be removed, most often through the nostril, and occasionally through the socket of an eye or

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