Mummies

When most people think about Ancient Egypt, there are two things that usually pop into their heads-Tutankhamen's fantastic gold funerary mask, and mummies. Well, King Tut's mask has been written about ad nausea, so we won't go there.

What I think is interesting is that we as a culture devote much of our time in finding ways to die slower (we've put the immortality thing on the back burner until the technology improves), but yet, we are so fascinated with what other cultures do with their dead.

Perhaps it is because we try to get away from our dead-dress 'em up, box 'em up, and move 'em out as quickly as possible. For the Egyptians, death wasn't stopping. It was the road to a better plane of existence, where you farmed in perfect weather and plenty, and you could feast forever in the company of the gods.

Assuming of course, when your heart was weighed in the Hall of Justice before the 42 Natural Laws, against the Feather of Truth-that you passed. If not, your heart was consumed by Am-mit.

But I digress. We were talking of mummies.

The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines a mummy as 1 a: a body embalmed or treated for burial with preservatives in the manner of the ancient Egyptians b: a body unusually well preserved 2: one resembling a mummy.

Wow! That told me a lot!

Mummies of Ancient Egypt was more helpful. Under the section 'What are Mummies?,' we find out that "A mummy is the body of a person (or an animal) that has been preserved after death. Normally when we die, bacteria and other germs 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 such as natron. Some bodies become mummies because there were favorable natural conditions when they died. Others were preserved and buried with great care."

Interesting. What else?

"The ancient Egyptians believed that mummifying a person's body after death was essential to ensure a safe passage to the afterlife."

So how do we make a mummy? For that, I turn to . . .

Sophie & Co - How To Make An Egyptian Mummy




And now, we know how to make a mummy. If you want a slightly more . . . grown-up perspective on mummies, I highly recommend The Virtual Mummy by Sarah U. Wisseman. (Pub. 2003 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois, ISBN 0-252-02792-2) University of Illinois Press

It is a small book, only 84 pages, but it describes the virtual unwrapping of a mummy from the Fayum region of Egypt. The mummy is dated from 100 A.D. during the Roman Period of Ancient Egypt's history. The book is written to be readable for the common man, and it offers some interesting insights into the life of a young person who's name we will never know.