Photographic permission granted by the Field Museum.
No one really knows why the ancient Egyptians began to think that
preserving their bodies was important. Although soon after they began
preserving bodies they believed that if a person's body was not
mummified they would not live in the next world.
One of the most important documents in early Ancient Egypt is the
Pyramid Text. It was a group of spells and instructions which were
thought to help the deceased make the transformation from death to
resurrection.
In a tomb there is always a storage room. In the storage room are all
kinds of things that might be useful in the next life: furniture,
hunting equipment, sealed jars filled with oils, wines and beers,
cosmetic items, and games.
Basically, the while point of the tombs was to establish a life after
death that was very similar to life on earth. The Egyptians worked
hard to make completely sure their loved ones were happy and
comfortable.
Soon, however, every day useful items in the tombs were not enough.
Egyptians began to include symbolic items like models of people or
things. Even the poor had many items in their burial
tombs.