Body and Soul
The dream of all ancient Egyptians was ensuring a life after death. Therefore mummification was considered to be the greatest hope of every Egyptian as a means of preventing the decay of his mortal frame.
Death or more accurately preparation for the afterlife played an extremely important role in Egyptian culture.
The preservation of the body was one of the most important components of ancient Egyptian funeral rites. Because of Egypt's desert climate, people from as early as Pre dynastic times must have noticed that the bodies of the dead remained preserved more or less completely when buried in the hot desert sands.
It is therefore not surprising that every Egyptian who could possibly afford it placed great value on his burial, or more specifically his mummification and the equipping of his tomb.
Egyptians believed that man was made up of six parts. Three of these were linked to substance: the body Khet, the name Ren, and the shadow Shut.
The other three were the spiritual or otherworldly, conveniently but hardly satisfactorily described as parts of the soul: these were the Ka, the Ba and the Akh.
The Ka ensured the continuation of the individual's eternal life; it was like his twin, and it was immortal.
His Ka would be able to return in a "body" that was well preserved, a damaged body could not be recognized by his Ka and this destroyed his chance for a life in the hereafter.
The Ka could also care for a man after death, as it alone could come and go between the actual tomb and the chamber lying in front where offerings were placed; it is represented in the form of a man's upraised arms, or as a human figure with these arms on its head.
The Ba:
the second element of soul, which lived on earth after his death.
This was originally thought of as having the form of a bird (later a bird with a human head), which left the body after death and fluttered freely about the world, though able at any time to return to the body.
It was very important that the body should remain intact and free from corruption, in order to enable the soul to find the right body
the Akh
The third "spiritual essence" of an individual was the Akh. It was also immortal and it can most accurately be described by the term "eternal soul ". The akh belonged in the world of the gods, as emerges from the Pyramid Texts.
In the earliest times the dead were buried lying on their left side with their knees drawn up.
During the Old Kingdom, under the influence of the Osiris myth, they began to be buried in a fully extended position
As long as the body did not come into contact with groundwater, it would dry out completely in the hot desert sand. Furthermore, it would be sterilized by the natural salt content and protected from putrefaction.
This contracted burial position was later decisive in forming the belief that the deceased awaited rebirth in the land of the immortal, curled up like a fetus in the body of the earth.
There are clues contained in the etymological origins of the terms "mummy" and "embalming". The word "mummy" is of ancient Persian derivation and originally it denoted bitumen or pitch, which was used in medicine.
"Embalming" goes back to the Latin term meaning to rub the body with aromatic oils and ointment. Details of the actual procedure of mummification have not come down to us.
The mummification ritual
Two papyri from the end of the first century AD give an account of the ritual of embalming of various parts of the body.
They concentrate on describing the spells to be spoken, which guaranteed that the part of the body "being treated" would eventually reawaken for a new life.
The process of applying the mummy bandages lasted for 15 days.
At first they were merely treated with saline solution and asphalt and wrapped in linen bandages and cloth.
In later times the process was more elaborate.
The brain was first extracted through the nostrils, using an iron hook, then the abdomen was opened with a stone knife and the entrails removed.
The entrails were put into four vessels (canopic jars)
which in the later period had lids in the form of the four sons of God Horus, who were charged with their protection.
The heart was also removed from the body and replaced by a stone scarab set on the dead man's breast under the bandaging.
Vast number of resin-soaked linen bandages of various thickness and widths had to be prepared sometimes reached a total length of 4.800 m.
Some bandages were decorated with fringes; royal mummies such as those of Amenophis 2nd and Thutmosis 3rd have bandages with these fringes and hieroglyphic texts on them taken from the Book of the Dead.
Before the actual wrapping, all the bandages were sorted out according to the use, length, width, and thickness, and the start of each course was marked.
The body lay on a specially prepared couch, which enabled the embalmers to work unhindered all round the body.
Rough linen was applied to the body first, while the finer bandages were used to finish the wrapping.
Large linen clothes were also used; these were attached to the head and to the feet.
The material would either be brought specially for the burial or taken from the house of the deceased.
The papyri mentioned above inform us of the "master of secrets", a priest who wore a mask of the god Anubis.
He directed the embalming and placed his hand on the head of the deceased.
Besides the heart, the head was the most important part of the body.
It was thought to be the center of life; the features of the face allowed the soul of the deceased to recognize his body, to return to it again and so bring it back to life.
Next, the hands were embalmed and wrapped; beginning with the left hand, then came the feet.
From the few scenes in which mummification is shown, we know that a different priest accompanied every stage of the work with recitation of magical formulas from a papyrus roll.
The prayers spoken by the priests are especially concerned with the applications of amulets and talismans with magical powers placed between the bandages.
The materials used for the amulets gave them special symbolic powers: gold was connected with the daytime, silver with night, turquoise with the daytime sky, and lapis lazuli with the night sky.
By far the most important amulet was the heart scarab, which was laid on the chest.
When the wrapping was complete, the outermost bandages were also decorated with amulets, for example with figures of various gods; including the four sons of Horus, the protective goddesses Isis, Nepthys, Neith and Selket, a figure of Anubis, and the winged scarab.
Finally a mummy mask was put over the head and shoulders. This was made of plaster covered linen or metal - pure gold in the case of the royal masks that have been recovered and they reproduced the features of the deceased.
After the mummification the mummy was placed in a coffin
The Coffin
The coffin was generally painted on the inside. Doors and eyes played an important role in the imagery used.
The Udjat eyes placed on the side of the coffin helped him to recognize the tomb offerings, to see the rising sun, and to sense other events.
Similarly a map of the underworld was sometimes included on the coffin, in order to help him choose the right way.
There were also magical spells to prevent him suffering a second death among the dangers of the netherworld.
Mummiform or anthropoid coffins were first developed during the Middle Kingdom when it became customary to fit a death mask over the head and shoulders of the body.
The coffins were originally made of cartonnage, linen or papyrus strengthened with plaster.Toward the end of the Second Intermediate Period wooden coffins become much more common.
These were decorated with bands of inscription identifying the deceased, and images of gods, we know from the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhmun that New Kingdom Kings were buried in several coffins fitted one inside another.
This practice of protecting the mummy in a series of nested mummiform coffins became so popular during the New Kingdom that even non – royal Egyptian were buried in this way.
As time went on people began decorating coffins even more lavishly both inside and out.
All interior surfaces were painted with scenes of the underworld, protective gods, and images of amulets.
The exteriors show scenes familiar from tomb decoration: the deceased worshipping the gods, the journey of the sun god in his baroque through the underworld, the tribunal hall with Osiris and the Four Sons of Horus.
On the upper surfaces are inscriptions containing the biography of the deceased as well as texts and beautifully carved figures from the Books of the Dead.
