The first step of an ancient Egyptian mummification was to remove
the brain. To remove the brain the ancient Egyptians would use a
hook. They would stick the hook up the nose and pull out sections
of the brain. After the brain was removed, it was either discarded
or preserved in its own jar.
After the brain was preserved, the organs could be removed.
The organs which were removed were the lungs, liver, stomach, and
intestines. Each of these organs was also preserved in a seperate jar.
After the organs were removed, the body was ready for the embalming.
Occasionally, they would tie the fingernails and toenails on before the
embalming due to the fact that they normally fell off if they weren't tied on.
The purpose of the embalming is to dry out the body.
By drying out the body and eliminating moisture,
you have eliminated the source of decay.
They dried the body by using a mixture of salts called "natron".
Along the Nile river, natron is found in abundance. It is made up
of four salts:
sodium carbonate
sodium bicarbonate
sodium chloride
sodium sulfate
The sodium carbonate works by drawing the water out
of the body. At the same time the sodium bicarbonate,
when subjected to moisture, increases the pH level.This creates
a hostile environment for bacteria. After the body had soaked in
the salts for 40 days, the body was ready to be wrapped.
The wrapping took 15 days. The Egyptians used yards of linen
to neatly wrap the body until all of the bodymass that was lost in
the previous steps was regained. Sometimes they wrapped up balls of
linen to represent each organ and they put it in that organ's place.
Occasionally they would put golden leafs over the eyes.
The strips of linen were normally
painted or decorated before they were used for wrapping.
Rule of Thumb: If you make a mummy and he looks like this one,
you've done it wrong!
