User:SaraRizkalla/sandbox

The Preparation for Afterlife

Mummy is the synthetically preserved body for both animals and humans; also it is the typical proof of death in Ancient Egypt. Mummies were produced in Ancient Egypt at the late Naqada II period until the Christian era (1).

Etymology and meaning:

The Egyptian word for mummy is Sah, which meant an embalmed corpse. The nowadays word is mummy, which is derived from both the Arabic and the Persian words, which means bitumen and wax, mumia and muum. The Arabs mistakenly thought, who first came upon mummies, that they had achieved their dark color by being covered with bitumen. (1)

Mummification:

Mummification is the protection of the body whether it is an animal or a human, skin and organs. Some mummies are preserved wet, some are dried, and the others are frozen. Sometimes, it can be either an intentional process or natural process that has been exposed to chemicals, ultimate cold, very damp weather, or no air, so that the recovered body does not decay further if kept in different conditions like chilly and dry.

Types of mummification: (3),(5)

There are two kinds of mummifications: anthropogenic mummification and spontaneous mummification.

Anthropogenic mummification is one of the most popular and universal form of mummification. It is the intentional act of protecting the body. This process is used in Egypt and other cultures and it is a natural process of bodies, where the dryness of the salts in which the body was buried, the coldness and heat of the climate, and another possibility is the no show of the air in the burial helped protect and preserve the body.

Mummifying the body due to natural causes is the reason why spontaneous mummification occurs. Generally, in Egypt spontaneous mummification occurs by dehydration of the body, thus demolishing the action of decay enzymes and this action requires a certain minimum water content. This spontaneous process of dehydration is achieved mainly by high summer temperatures.

Materials used in mummification:

One of the most important substance that is used in mummification was natron or netjry, it is a divine salt, which is a combination of natural mineral composed of sodium bicarbonate, sodium carbonate, sodium sulphate, and sodium chloride. This ingredient is found Egypt commonly in the Wadi el-Natrun. Other substances and materials that are used in mummification, such as resins (the sap secreted from fir and pine trees, as they prevent bacteria and deodorize and freshen), myrrh, spices, oils (such as juniper oil is a more probable candidate as it is more effective and more strongly scented), and sawdust (was used in the temporary stuffing of the abdominal cavities).

Methods of Mummification: (6)

The technique of mummification began in the Old Kingdom. The general method used in this period for mummifying the kings, nobles, high priests, and queens with the most expensive methods and materials as Herodotus described. The mummification process consisted of a bunch of steps, which are:

1. Putting the corpse on the operating table.

In this stage, they stripped the corpse from all the clothes and then getting ready to extract the brain and viscera.

2. Extraction of the brain.

The Ancient Egyptians extracted the brain before the dehydration process because it is surrounded by tissues. At the end of the extracting process, they cut the brain into small pieces.

3. Extraction of the viscera.

There are two reasons why they have to remove the viscera the quick liability of the food remains in the intestines and religious.

4. Sterilization of the body cavities and viscera.

Some books mentioned that the body cavities were washed with water and wine (1), while others mentioned that Ancient Egyptians washed the body cavities with wine and spices. (6)

5. Embalming the viscera.

The viscera washed and sterilized as step 4. Then they dehydrated by being buried in solid natron for 40 days. After that being dried and re-sterilized and then anointed with perfumed oil and treated with molten resin.

6. Temporary stuffing of the thoracic and abdominal cavities.

These cavities were next packed with three kinds of temporary used materials that is placed within a linen packets containing dry natron to speed the dryness of the body from the inside, packets of linen to absorb the extracted water, and packets of linen impregnated with smelly gum-resins to impart to the body a good odor.

7. Dehydration of the body.

This step is the most important step in the whole mummification process. It depended exactly upon the extraction of the water of the body.

8. Removal of the temporary stuffing material.

The body was taken out of the natron and the temporary used materials taken out of its thoracic and abdominal cavities.

9. Packing the body cavities with permanent stuffing materials.

The canial cavity was stuffed with resin or soaked in resin, while the thoracic and abdominal cavities were maybe washed with palm wine and then stuffed with fresh dry materials, most of which were enclosed in linen bags.

10. Anointing the body.

The body was blessed or/and anointed with cedra oil and other expenive treatments, and then rubbed with myrrh, cinnamon, and other fragrant materials.

11. Packing the face-openings.

The mouth, the ears, and the nose were packed with beeswax. The eyeballs were somewhat pressed down and the eyelids drawn over them; in order to appear as they are in a normal level as they were in life.

12. Smearing the skin with molten resin.

The entire body surface was treated with molten resin, which would strengthen the skin and at the same time close its pores to prevent moisture from penetrating into it again.

13. Adorning and bandaging the mummy.

The mummy was adorned with the jewellery previously prepared for it and with amulets.

Afterlife and why it is so important to the Egyptians to preserve the body: (1),(4)

The Egyptians believed that, in addition to the physical body, there were important aspects that taken together and made up to constitute an individual, ren (name), shuyet (shadow), ka (double), ba (personality), and the akh (spirit). Each one of these components played an essential role in the individual's life. Each was required to attain rebirth or revival into the afterlife.

The name of an individual was the most essential part of personhood, in both their current life and the next. The name is providing the person with an identity and individuality; without a name one was identified as a non-person, and would stop to exist, the worst possible fate imaginable. This is why the Egyptians went to lengths to safeguard and perpetuate their names. All the tombs had their owners' names and title inscribed in a lot of places, starting with the doorways, doorjambs, and moving in. People who visited the tomb-chapels were encouraged to read aloud the tomb-owner's name so that he would be remembered and would continue to flourish in the Herelife. All the objects that is belonged to the tomb-owner were regularly inscribed with their name. Statues and two-dimensional representations of the dead person were similarly labelled so that the tomb-owner's name was preserved for eternity. Finally, a cartouche, which is a magical rope, was used to guard the person's identity and protect it for eternity.

The shadow was always present in a person. Both the person and the shadow will not exist without each other. The shadow was characterized as a tiny human figure painted all in black. The shadow is defined in funerary texts as an effective, speedy and hasty substances that had to be guarded. The word for shadow itself, shuyet, also means shade, blackness, and protection, and the pharaoh is often shown being covered and guarded by a feather- or palm-fan in the royal contexts. Both the palm and feather have metaphoric meanings in Egyptians religion; the feather is a symbol of maat, and illustrates that whomever is covered by, it is supported by maat and will lead a good and decent life, in both present and the next life. The rib, or/and central portion, of a palm frond leaf is the Egyptian word for year and might offer a lengthy life. Generally, shadows were also combined with the sun. This solar union was closely connected to the concept of an individual's rebirth: the sun generated a person's shadow. When the sun left the sky, the shadow disappeared, only to be reborn, with the help of the sun, on the following day. Hence, the sun would help the individual in all his forms to be re-produced for eternity in the Afterlife.

The concept of the ka is very complex and manifold. This is an essential aspect, which shows that the personality and the body were created at the same time and running through life and into death, rather like a twin. It was the energy that activated the person. There are a lot of images showing the creation of a person on a potter's wheel by the god Khnum, who at the same time created the person's ka. The ka occurred in the physical world and existed in the tomb. The ka had the same needs that every individual had in life; for example, what to eat, drink, etc. Offerings and gifts are left by Egyptians, such as food, drink, and personal and worldly possessions in tombs; in order to the ka to use.

The ba can be called as someone's personality. It enrolled a person's body with the breath of life and it left at the time of death. It transported freely between both the physical world and underworld. The ba was portrayed as a human-headed bird and sometimes shown with arms. This is the form in which the spirit moved or travelled from the burial chamber up through the shaft to the tomb. The ba was one of the most movable aspects of the personality and appears to have been primarily obvious after the death of an individual, in spite of the fact that certain texts relating to dreams offer that during sleep the ba could be released to travel. This concept of the personality had all the characteristics that has been appreciated by a human: an ability to eat, drink, speak, move, and travel. The ba could move in this world, the Afterworld or even with the sun god in his sacred Braque. The painting or the picture of the ba as a human-headed bird might be related to its phonetic kinship with the word for bird or strok. This bird-like aspect of the ba increased its mobility, and the union of the dead with migratory birds who go away and return. Despite its ability to travel, the ba had to return to the physical body of the dead in order to be get together with its physical anchor, or the deceased or the dead would not survive. A lot of prayers and spells in various funerary books concern the reconciliation between the body and the ba. Therefore, the ba had the ability to take on different forms.

The idea of the akh is the most complicated and esoteric component. The akh is thought to result from a union of the ba and the ka, which created the akh. Other words associated and derived from akh, spirit, reflect this relationship. Therefore, the akh was the dead transfigured into an eternal and unchanging living being of light, usually associated with the stars. Not everyone became an akh, as people who had lived lives that were not in harmony with maat, would be destroyed. However, all funerary texts, traditions, and rituals were directed toward a successful Afterlife and the creation of the akh. The akh was closely associated with the gods and shared some of their characteristics, although it was not truly divine itself. The akh was the form of a person that would join the gods in the underworld being from mortal to immortal and unchangeable.

References

1. Ikram, Salima. Death and Burial in Ancient Egypt. Harlow: Longman, 2003. Print.

2. Janot, Francis, and Zahi A. Hawass. The Royal Mummies: Immortality in Ancient Egypt. Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press, 2008. Print.

3. Aufderheide, Arthur C., Larry Cartmell, Michael Zlonis, and Peter Sheldrick. Mummification Practices at Kellis Site in Egypt's Dakhleh Oasis. 2004. Pp.64

4. "An Egyptian Mummification." An Egyptian Mummification. N.p.

5. "Mummification- A Thorough Explanation." Token Rock. N.p.

6. Riyad, Hinri, Zaki Iskandar, and Mathaf al-Misri. Mummification in Ancient Egypt and the Celebration of the Hundredth Anniversary of the Discovery of the Royal Mummies in the Valley of the Kings at Thebes.Cairo: Ministry of Culture, Egyptian Antiquities Organization, Cairo Musuem, 1973. Print.