Shortly after death the body would be taken to a tent known as “Ibw”, which is the place of purification. There the body would be thoroughly washed in a solution called natron, a disinfectant and desiccating agent consisting of sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate, which was primarily used to dry out the body. The body was then taken to another tent known as the “per nefer”, the house of beauty, where the process of mummification actually took place.
The most important step in preparing a corpse for mummification was the removal of those parts that cause the body to decompose. The embalmers placed the body on a table and the first part to be removed was the brain. It was removed through the nostrils by using metal probes and hooks. The Egyptians thought that the brain did not have much of a purpose in the afterlife so they discarded it. Next an incision was made on the left side of the abdomen in order to remove the internal organs, with the exception of the heart, which was left in the body. The liver, the lungs, the intestines, and the stomach were each placed in separate jars, called canopic jars, which were put in the tomb with the body.
After the removal of the internal organs, small parcels of natron wrapped in linen were placed inside the body and loose natron covered the outside of the body, in order to help dry it out. The body was then left to dehydrate completely for forty days. Once the body moisture had been absorbed by the natron, the linen strips were removed and the corpse was given a sponge bath. The skin was then massaged with resins and the body cavity was re-stuffed with clean wads of linen soaked in natron, in order to give the body more shape. The body was now ready to be wrapped in linen and made into a mummy.
The final step of mummification was the burial ceremony. This was where friends and family of the deceased gathered together to pay their respects to the person who had died. Before the body could be put into his tomb a ceremony called “The Opening of the Mouth” had to be performed. Through this ceremony the mummy could regain its ability to move, to talk, to eat, to see, and to hear. It was necessary that the priests perform this last rite so that the body could restore the functions of a living person in the afterlife. The mummy was then laid in his tomb and sealed in an outer coffin or sarcophagus, along with a few of his belongings, the canopic jars, and The Book of the Dead (The Book of the Dead is a collection of 200 magic spells that gave instructions on how to achieve eternal life).
The Egyptians believed that when they died they would journey to another world, called the Underworld, where they would start the Afterlife. Before passing the gates of the Underworld, they had to pass a test in the Hall of Two Truths. This test was called “The Weighing of the Heart.” The Egyptians believed that the most important part of a person was the heart. The heart was never removed from the body because it was thought to be the center of a person’s being. The purpose of this ceremony was to see how well the mummy behaved during his life. The gods of the underworld would judge the mummy’s heart by weighing it. On a scale Maat, the goddess of truth, weighed the mummy’s heart against the Feather of Truth. If the heart balanced the feather than the mummy was granted immortality, however, if the heart was heavier than the feather, meaning if there are more sins than virtues, than the soul of the body would have terrible fate.
Achieving everlasting life was very important to the Egyptians. They believed that life after death was far more important than living because most of their life was spent in the Afterlife. The ambition of every Egyptian was to have a well mummified body and a perpetually cared for tomb. Some Egyptians spent their lifetime preparing their tomb to ensure a safe journey to the Afterlife. It is amazing how much time and effort the Egyptians put into burring their dead, in no other civilization have such elaborate preparations for the Afterlife been made.
