When the Arabs invaded Egypt in the 7th century AD, they believed that the dark resin coating on the mummies was bitumen or asphalt, and so they began referring to the mummies as "mummiya" or Arabic for bitumen. It is from the word, "mummiya" that the modern day word "mummy" has evolved.

A mummy is the preserved body of a human being or an animal. The word was first used to describe the bandaged bodies of ancient Egyptians. But any dead body that still has skin on it is considered a mummy.  The Egyptians are considered as the "fathers of the process of mummification". However, mummies are found in many places of the world. Some of the world's best-known mummies were created accidentally, when a body's final resting place happened to prevent the natural process of decay. But many cultures around the world have sought to mummify their dead on purpose. The process of artificially preserving a dead body is called "embalming," and the methods used are as varied as the cultures themselves.

Ancient Egyptians are perhaps the best-known mummy-makers, though initially, it was their climate, and not their skill, that preserved their dead. Arid desert winds and blazing hot sand occasionally dried corpses out quickly enough to mummify them. In fact, the oldest-known Egyptian mummy, dated around 3500 B.C. is believed to have been created in this manner. The first "artificial" Egyptian mummies were made around 3000 B.C. These early efforts at embalming were crude, but reflected the culture's emerging beliefs about preserving their dead to achieve eternal life. Initially, mummification was so expensive that it was a privilege enjoyed only by the Pharaoh and few nobles. Everybody else was given a simple grave burial in one of the vast cemeteries or "necropolises" of the time. But the promise of eternal life was so alluring that it wasn't long before other classes of Egyptians began signing up for mummification, too. By 1550 B.C., every Egyptian who could afford it, was mummified.  The ancient Egyptians believed that the dead lived on in the next world, and that their bodies had to be preserved forever as they were in life.  They believed that the body would serve a person in the next world and therefore spent much effort in developing methods of embalming. After death, the pharaohs of Egypt usually were mummified and buried in elaborate tombs. The process was an expensive one but it showed how ancient peoples cared for their dead.  For religious reasons, some animals were also mummified.

The process of making a mummy is referred to as mummification. The process was simple when mummifying began, and gradually became more elaborate. The Egyptians depending upon the wealth of the deceased's family used several styles of mummification. The Egyptians devoted great effort to preserving the lifelike appearance of corpses because they believed that the deceased needed physical bodies for the next life. Mummies were made naturally or by embalming, which is any process that people use to help preserve a dead body. Some bodies became mummies because there were favorable natural conditions when they died. Others were preserved and buried with great care. 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 real life.

First, the body is taken to the tent known as 'ibu' or the 'place of purification'. There the embalmers wash the body with good-smelling palm wine and rinse it with water from the Nile. One of the embalmer's men makes a cut in the left side of the body and removes many of the internal organs. It is important to remove these because they are the first part of the body to decompose. The liver, lungs, stomach and intestines are washed and packed in Natron, which will dry them out. Natron was widely used in the process of mummification. It is a natural salt that left a corpse more flexible and lifelike than drying with hot sand. Natron absorbs water. It also dissolves body fats, and is a mild antiseptic that kills bacteria. The heart is not taken out of the body because it is the center of intelligence and feeling and the man will need it in the afterlife. ("Natron") A long hook was usually pushed up the nose to punch a hole into the skull. Then bronze hooks or spoons could be poked in to scoop out the brain. The Greek historian Herodotus was an eyewitness to the process of embalming when he visited Egypt in 450 B.C. (Rohl 63) The body is now covered and stuffed with natron, which will dry it out. All of the fluids, and rags from the embalming process will be saved and buried along with the body. After forty days the body is washed again with water from the Nile. Then it is covered with oils to help the skin stay elastic. The dehydrated internal organs are wrapped in linen and returned to the body. The body is stuffed with dry materials such as sawdust, leaves and linen so that it looks lifelike. Finally the body is covered again with good-smelling oils. It is now ready to be wrapped in linen.
In the past, when the internal organs were removed from a body they were placed in hollow canopic jars. Over many years the embalming practices changed and embalmers began returning internal organs to bodies after the organs had been dried in natron. However, solid wood or stone canopic jars were still buried with the mummy to symbolically protect the internal organs. They resemble the heads of the four gods known as the Sons of Horus. (91-133)
1.Imsety the human - headed god looks after the liver.
2.Hapy the baboon - headed god looks after the lungs
3.Duamutef the jackal - headed god looks after the stomach
4.Qebehsenuef the falcon - headed god looks after the intestines

Here is a pictorial process: