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Artificial Mummies
Artificial Mummies in the New Kingdom c. 1570-1070 BCE

Many of the finest and most famous mummies date from this period. At the Per-Nefer or House of Beauty, the body was washed and prepared for evisceration. A metal probe was pushed up the nostril until it broke through the ethmoid bone into the skull. The brain could then be removed with a metal hook. This was not always done, nor was it always done well; all or part of the brain often remains. (Try to imagine being the person with the job of removing the brain this way!)

The empty cavity was sometimes filled with molten resin, poured in through the nostrils. There are also bodies which show that the brain was removed through a hole in the back of the skull, or in other manners.

The embalming incision was on the left side, near the hip. This cut often looks very crude; this is not surprising when one recalls that the priest who made it was wearing the mask of a jackal which limited his vision. The intestines, stomach and liver were removed through this opening. The kidneys were left in place. Only one cut was made. The embalmer reached into the abdomen and cut through he diaphragm in order to remove the lungs. The heart, the seat of intelligence and sentiment, was left in the body. On occasions when it was accidentally removed, it was often sewn back into position.

The inner organs were then washed, dried in natron, wrapped in linen, and placed into canopic jars where hot resin was sometimes poured over them. The four canopic jars now had the heads of the four Sons of Horus:

Quebesenef is hawk-headed and guards the intestines Duamutef has the head of a jackal; he guards the stomach. Hapy, baboon-headed, guards the lungs. Imsety the only human, guards the liver.

There are specific prayers for each organ, but in practise there was considerable laxity in getting an organ into the appropriate jar. Even the names of the four genii are often confused on coffins. The empty body cavity was washed with alcohol, in the form of wine, and packed with natron and covered with it as well, so that the body could desiccate. Nails were tied to fingers and toes to prevent loss. The deliquescent nature of natron drew both water and fat from the tissues, leaving the body looking emaciated. This process seems to have taken about forty days.

When the body was dry, it was removed to the wabet where it was washed with Nile Water and packed with linen or sawdust or any number of other materials. The incision might be sewn up or simply covered with a plate of gold or wax. The surface of the body would be rubbed with a mixture of oils, spices, natron, and tree resins.

The nose would be plugged with tampons of cloth, and the eyes were sometimes packed with cloth too, though in some cases onions substitute for the dried up organs. After this, the whole body might be covered in resin. The resin prevented further loss of moisture and gave strength to the skin. This accounts for the better preservation of the bodies of this period, and also for the very dark colour of the skin in some mummies.

Some mummies show signs of having had their hair carefully coifed, though when this was done - soon after death or just before the wrapping, - is unknown. The final stage, taking place between the fifty-second and sixty-eighth days, was the wrapping. This was a slow process as each finger and toe was wrapped separately, and prayers were said at every step. Amulets were often introduced between layers of wrapping.

In 1881 and 1898, many of the royal mummies of the New Kingdom were found in two caches, where they had been moved by priests three thousand years before. The diligence of the priests combined with the skills of the embalmers, enabled us to gaze upon the faces of some of the most famous rulers of Egypt. Many of these surprisingly life-like bodies can be seen at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, in the Royal Mummy room. Seti I is the most beautiful of these, looking still noble and elegant. His son, Ramesses II, who died in late old age, is regal and arrogant, despite the passage of years. To be in the presence of this ancient royalty is moving and unforgettable.

 

 

Predynastic burial

Egyptian Desert