Why mummification was important

The mummies of pharaohs were placed in ornate stone coffins called sarcophaguses. Some pharaohs were even buried with pets and servants. According to a abstract published in Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine , medicinal preparations made from powdered mummies were popular between the twelfth and seventeenth centuries. The interest in mummies as medicine was based on the supposed medicinal properties of bitumen, a type of asphalt from the Dead Sea.

It was thought mummies were embalmed with bitumen, but that was rarely the case; most were embalmed with resins. Perhaps the best-known mummy in modern history is King Tutankhamun , commonly known as King Tut. His tomb and mummified body were discovered in by British archaeologist Howard Carter.

It was an exhilarating find yet destined to be overshadowed by several unexplained deaths. The most effective way to send them to a permanent demise is to set them on fire. That may change as Hollywood releases new mummy movies with spine-chilling storylines and unnerving special effects.

Central Rappahannock Regional Library. Science Museum, London. Mummy as a Drug. The Afterlife in Ancient Egypt. Accidental mummies: Mexican villagers are preserved.

Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present.

Vampires are evil mythological beings who roam the world at night searching for people whose blood they feed upon. They may be the best-known classic monsters of all. It went on display at the British Museum in , becoming the first mummy to be exhibited in public, Witches were perceived as evil beings by early Christians in Europe, inspiring the iconic Halloween figure. Images of witches have appeared in various forms throughout history—from evil, wart-nosed women huddling over a cauldron of boiling liquid to hag-faced, cackling beings Anubis Mask This is the step-by-step process of how mummification took place:.

If the person had been a Pharaoh, he would be placed inside his special burial chamber with lots of treasure! Embalming tips. Egyptian Pottery Jar. The next step involved removing all the moisture from the body by covering the body with natron , a type of salt that acted as a preservative and drying agent.

Wrapping up the corpse was the last step in the procedure and involved more than a hundred yards of linen, smeared over with gum. Because mummification was expensive, cheaper alternatives were offered for the poor. The ancient Greek historian Herodotus described three different mummification methods based on social class that were offered by embalmers of the day.

The brain was drawn out through the nostrils using a crooked piece of iron. Contents of the belly were taken out and the interior was cleaned using palm-wine and aromatics.

The belly was filled with pure myrrh , cassia and other spices and then sewn together again. The body was washed and rolled up in fine linen and covered over with gum.

Finally, the mummified corpse was returned to family members. Syringes were filled with oil from the cedar tree and injected into the abdomen, dissolving the bowels and interior organs. The body was covered with a natron treatment for 70 days, after which the cedar oil was cleaned out and the body was left as skin and bones. The body was covered with a natron treatment for 70 days before being returned to loved ones. Egyptian mummification became a lost art around the 4th century A.

But because Egyptians were masters at preserving the dead, mummies have provided us with a glimpse into the rich culture and traditions of this ancient civilization.

But that's not to say corpse preservation is, well, dead. Mummification wasn't limited to Eqypt, and, in some ways, the tradition also has transcended time.