10/2/2014
1
2
EGYPTIAN AFTERLIFE AND MUMMIFICATION
Concept of the Human
 The god Khnum (creator god) made humans
 Khnum also created two other elements for each human
 The ka – a spiritual double, that remained in the heart until death
 The ka appears as two upraised arms
 The ba – the personality or character of the individual
 the ba often appears as a human headed bird
3
4
Significance of Ka and Ba
 Believed that both ka and ba returned to body of a person who died; if:
 the body was properly preserved
 the body was sustained in the tomb with food, drink and earthly belongings.
5
Ancestors
 Those previous ideas lead to ancestor worship
 People took care of and maintained the tombs of the dearly departed
 Kept busts of ancestors in main room of house, alongside statue of household god
Death and the Afterlife
 Burial practices were way to ensure the person who died could continue to enjoy
living in the world beyond
 To pass on to that world, the body had to be preserved in a recognizable form
 This was so the soul could find and use it’s body in the afterlife
 The ka and ba could only return to a body if they could recognize it as theirs
Evolution of Mummification
 Began by covering corpse with a skin or matting, and burying in shallow grave
 Heat, and dry sand would remove moisture from body (desiccating), preventing
decay
 Beginning during the Old Kingdom, corpses would be placed in burial chambers
 Started to tightly wrap body and limbs in linen bandages, thinking this would stop
decomposition
 Later on Egyptians learned to remove internal organs to prevent decay to even
greater extent
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
Mummification at its best
 Only in the New Kingdom, does the process we know as mummification begin
 Doesn’t stay constant
 Different methods developed throughout this period
 Designed for the wealthy
 Became a fascinating mix of science and religion
 What science did the Egyptians need to develop?
The Process
 Took a long time to mummify someone
 Total of 70 days
 As soon as death occurred, the body was handed over to an embalmer
 entire process was presided over by a priest, wearing an Anubis mask
Step 1: Removing Internal Organs
 Removal of brain through the nostrils, with a hook-like instrument
 Incision made on the lower left abdomen, to extract organs
1
10/2/2014
12
 Incision made on the lower left abdomen, to extract organs
 The heart, the core of understanding and home of the ka, remained in the body
 bodily organs were cleaned, dried, and then placed in canopic jars

13
14
15
16
17
Canopic Jars
 Baboon (Hapi), guarded the lungs
 Jackal (Duamutefla), protected the stomach
 Falcon (Qebehnseneuf), looked after the intestines
 Man (Imseti), cared for the liver
Step 2: The Drying Process
 Corpse packed in a mound of dry natron
 Took 40 days for natron to absorb all of the bodies fluids
 This prevented further decomp.
Step 3: Packing and Sealing the Body
 Packed body cavity with linen, sawdust, and lichen
 Plugged eye sockets with linen pads, or artificial eyes
 Abdominal incision was closed and covered with a stone tablet or a plate of leather,
metal or wax, which bore the eye of Horus
 Massaged body with lotions and oils, then coated it with resin

Step 4: Wrapping the Mummy
 Took 15 days to bandage body
 Wrapping had to be tight to maintain shape of body
 Head, fingers, toes and limbs were all wrapped individually
 Then entire body was wrapped
 Before final layers of bandage, a funeral mask was fitted over head and shoulders
 mask was usually made of linen or papyrus stiffened with plaster, or precious metals
if deceased was royalty
18
19
Opening of the Mouth Ceremony
 Took place right outside the tomb
 coffin was stood upright so chief priest, wearing an Anubis mask, could sprinkle
water on it
 priest recited prayers, made offerings to gods and touched coffins painted mouth,
eyes and ears
 The ritual would
re-animate or bring sensory
life back to deceased person
 enabling it to see, smell,
breathe, hear, and eat
 Hence the funerary goods that
included food and drink
 Once rejuvenated; deceased
could
 interact and watch over the family
members, affecting their lives

20
2
10/2/2014
20

Excerpt from a Spell for Opening of the Mouth
My mouth is opened by Ptah, My mouth's bonds are loosed by my city-god. Thoth
has come fully equipped with spells, He looses the bonds of Seth from my mouth.
Atum has given me my hands, They are placed as guardians.
My mouth is given to me, My mouth is opened by Ptah, With that chisel of metal
With which he opened the mouth of the gods. I am Sekhmet-Wadjet who dwells in
the west of heaven, I am Sahyt among the souls of On.
21
22
Step 5: The Burial
 Mummy placed inside a coffin, or a series of coffins
 Then enclosed in a box or sarcophagus
 Sarcophagus, canopic jars and various belongings and objects used in everyday life
buried as well
 Tombs of royalty contained furniture and other precious items
23
24
25
26
27
Afterlife
 Osiris stood as judge of the dead
 Weighing of the Heart; performed by Anubis
 Heart was place on scale and weighed against feather of Ma’at
 If judged worthy, deceased person enjoyed rebirth in the land of eternal
contentment
 If unworthy, deceased heart would be eaten by Ammut (demon with crocodile head,
front half of leopard, back half of hippopotamus) and be annihilated from existence
 Even so, the soul could still encounter many obstacles
 Spells from Book of the Dead were written on a papyrus scroll and placed in the
hand of the deceased
 there were over 200 spells in all, no single collection contained them all
 Each Book of the Dead therefore was unique
Funeral
 Funerals for elite were long and elaborate
 period of public mourning took place
 Female relatives, and paid mourners, bared their breasts and walked streets crying
out in grief
 Followed by male relatives, also bare to waist, pounding their chests
 more composed procession followed later, taking body to embalmer
Funeral Con’t
 Body returned to family after mummification
 Final procession to tomb began
 Mummy placed on sledge drawn by oxen
 smaller sledge followed carrying canopic jars
 Servants followed carrying objects the person would need in afterlife
28
3