Ancient Egyptian Mummies

An Introduction to Ancient Egyptian Mummies

A mummy is the body of a person (or an animal) that has been preserved after death. Normally when we die
bacteria eat away at the soft tissues (such as skin and muscles) leaving only the bones behind. Since bacteria
need water in order to grow, mummification usually happens if the body dries out quickly after death. The body
may then be so well preserved that we can even tell how the dead person may have looked in life.

Mummies are made naturally or by embalming, which is any process that people use to help preserve a dead body.
Mummies can be dried out by extreme cold, by the sun, by smoke, or using chemicals. Some bodies become
mummies because there were good natural conditions when they died. Others were preserved and buried with
great care.

Not Everyone was Mummified the Same

Mummification in ancient Egypt was a very long and expensive process. From start to
finish, it took about seventy days to embalm a body. Since the Egyptians believed that
mummification was for the afterlife, people were mummified and buried as well as they
could possibly afford. High-ranking officials, priests and other nobles who had served
the pharaoh and his queen had very detailed burials. The pharaohs, who were believed
to become gods when they died, had the most wonderful burials of all.

How Mummies Were Made

The Egyptians went through a detailed process to preserve the body and keep it from rotting. The main thing they did was try
to get all the water and moisture out of the body. It's water that causes the body to rot.

The Egyptians started out by covering the body with a salty crystal substance called
natron. The natron would help to dry out the body. They would also take out some of
the organs and place them in canopic jars. With the body covered and stuffed with
natron, they would let the body dry out for around 40 days. Once it was dry, they would
use lotions on the skin to preserve it, support the empty body with packing, and then
cover the body in cloth. They would use many layers of strips of cloth wrapping, covering
the entire body. Resin was used to glue the layers of wrap together. The total process
could take up to 40 days. Once the body was all wrapped up, it was covered in a sheet
Canopic Jars
called a shroud and placed in a stone coffin called a sarcophagus.
Glossary

 Preserve: to keep or save from injury, loss or ruin

o Preserved: past tense verb
o Preservation: noun
 Bacteria: Living things that can cause human bodies to rot
 Process: the steps that make something
 Expensive: costs a lot of money