Mummification - Egyptian ways to live forever and preserve the body.

Mummification is a process in which the skin and flesh of a corpse can be preserved. The process can occur either naturally, or it can be intentional. If it occurs naturally, it is the result of cold (as can be found in a glacier), acid (as can be found in a bog) or dryness.

Process

Mummification was mainly done to wealthy people as poorer people could not afford the process. 

The chief embalmer was a priest wearing a mask of Anubis. Anubis was the jackal headed god of the dead. He was closely associated with mummification and embalming, hence why priests wore a mask of Anubis.

This is the step-by-step process* of how mummification took place:  

1. Insert a hook through a hole near the nose and pull out part of the brain
2. Make a cut on the left side of the body near the tummy
3. Remove all internal organs
4. Let the internal organs dry
5. Place the lungs, intestines, stomach and liver inside canopic jars
6. Place the heart back inside the body
7. Rinse inside of body with wine and spices
8. Cover the corpse with salt for 70 days
9. After 40 days stuff the body with linen or sand to give it a more human shape
10. After the 70 days wrap the body from head to toe in bandages
11. Place in a sarcophagus (a type of box like a coffin)

If the person had been a Pharaoh, he would be placed inside his special burial chamber with lots of treasure!

Purpose

The ancient Egyptians believed that the soul of the deceased would live forever in the afterlife and they used mummification to create a body that could continue to house the ka and ba of the individual, which were the nonphysical elements of a person. For this reason, they paid special attention to the external appearance of the mummy. The mummy was designed to make the individual complete in the afterlife and the ancient Egyptians striven to preserve the appearance of the individual as much as possible.

We can see that many corpses, mummies, have been found around the world and have allowed us, homo sapiens sapiens to know the world and also to research on their lifestyle and know the history thoroughly.