Mummy History: The Mysterious Mummy How It Was Made!

byPreetam3

584 followers

3 years ago

What comes to your mind when you hear the word "mummy"? A box in the dark room inside the pyramid, a body wrapped in bandages, and a ghostly feeling!

So what? It is almost impossible for those of you reading this to not know Mummy. We are familiar with Mummy since childhood thanks to various cartoon movies.

Even hearing the word 'Egypt' brings to mind the pyramids and mummies!

As a child I was very interested in mummy, how is it made?

How does a dead body remain intact for a thousand years?

Later when I found out, it was very interesting! So let's find out how the ancient Egyptians made mummies from corpses!

What is this mummy? Where did it come from?

As you all know more or less, after death, the dead body gets exposed to air and decomposes due to the enzymes inside our body. But a mummy is a dead body that never rots or decays naturally. Because the dead body is protected from rotting by wrapping it in cloth with various chemicals and medicines.

The word 'mummy' comes from the French word 'momie'. But the source of the word is the Persian word 'mom' (wax) and from this wax comes the Arabic and Latin word "mumiya". From Mumia the word has now become "Mummy".

According to many, mummification was first started in Egypt. However, if you search the history, it can be seen that the Egyptians used to make mummies in northern Chile and southern Peru a thousand years ago. Some of his relics are also in the British Museum.

Why and how mummy was made?

The ancient Egyptians believed that after death, people would resume their lives in the afterlife. And to go to that life they have to preserve their dead bodies. And mummies were made to preserve this. However, mummification was restricted to the wealthy and elite of Egypt.

Let's see how the mummy was made!

1) Before mummification, the dead body was first taken to a room called 'ibu'. "Ibu" means "place of purification". In Ibu, the dead body was thoroughly washed with a fragrant liquor called “tadi” made from palm sap. After that, the body was cleaned thoroughly with the water of Nilans.

2) The body was then taken from Ibu to "per-nefar". It would not be wrong to call it a 'mummification' room. Because this is where the main work of making mummies started.

3) After taking Par-Nefer, the body was placed on a table and first the decomposed internal organs such as the liver, lungs, stomach, and intestines were taken out from the left side of the dead body. But nothing was done to the heart. Because they thought that the heart is the main center of human emotions and energy.

However, after being taken out, the organs were washed well, coated with the sticky sap of a type of tree called 'Rajan' and wrapped in a jute cloth, and kept in a special container.

These special containers are called "canopic jars". There are four types of these canopic jars, which again have different names. The names are Inseti, Hapi, Duametef, and Kebehsenuef. The liver, lungs, stomach, and intestines were kept in these four jars respectively.

4) After removing the decaying organs, it is time to remove the brain. With the help of a long hook, the entire brain was taken out with a long spoon-like object inserted into the nose. However, they did not preserve the brain that was extracted so hard! Because they thought the brain was a useless thing, so they threw it out!

5) Now the entire body has nothing to say except the external organs. After removing the internal organs, it is time to fill the space left empty. Or the corpse will not look like the living! So the blank space was deleted with great haste. Then incense and other substances were filled with the cut part on the left side.

6) Now the whole body was wrapped in natron powder. Natron is a type of salt. The function of this natron is to absorb all the watery matter of the dead body without changing the color of the skin much. And it takes 35 to 40 days for Natron to do this absorption work.

7) After 40 days the mummy was brought to a room called Wabet. In this room, the stuffed incense and other substances will be taken out from the dried corpse.

So what will be in the space now?

Now that space will be filled with natron, resin-soaked jute cloth, and some other materials. The cut places of the body will be stitched again after filling the space. Then resin coating will be given. And after that, the most complicated process will begin. The act of wrapping the body with bandages.

8) It took about two weeks to wrap the entire body with a thin linen bandage. Bandaging started with the head and neck, then the hands and feet, and the whole body were wrapped one by one. Different organs were separated and bandaged. But this bandage did not end with just one layer. Several layers of bandage were applied.

And resin was used to join each layer. And mantras were recited during the entire bandaging process. When the bandaging was finished, the mummy's hands and feet were tied together and a mantra written on a papyrus from the "Book of the Dead" was stuck between the hands.

9) Hard cages were then attached to different parts of the body of the deceased. And the mask was worn on the head. The mask was made either after the deceased or after the face of an Egyptian god; According to the Egyptians, this cage dress helps the soul of the deceased to find the right body.

10) Finally it is time to stuff the mummy with the cage into the coffin. The coffin was not only filled with the mummy but also filled with various foods and valuable jewelry for use in the afterlife! And that's how the whole process ended.

When I was a kid, I first got to know the Mummy from a cartoon called “Scooby Dooby Doo”. how did you know Let me know by commenting!

But there is also a movie about mummy if you want you can watch "The Mummy" movie. And if you have already seen it, you can tell me if you want!

Alright that's the story behind mummies and hope you know already about it and if you don't this one gives you a better idea.

Keep exploring and keep striving wish you all a happy day and super exiting weekend.

Preetam