1. The Mummification Process

3. Steps 1. Announcement of Death 2. Embalming the Body 3
Steps 1. Announcement of Death 2. Embalming the Body 3. Removal of Brain 4. Removal of Internal Organs 5. Drying Out Process 6. Wrapping of the Body 7. Final Procession

4. Step 1 Announcement of Death This first step was to let the people know that someone had died. A messenger was sent out to the streets to announce the death. This allowed people to get themselves ready for mourning period and ceremony.

5. Materials Used in Mummification
1. Linen Natron 2. Sawdust Onion 3. Lichen Nile Mud 4. Beeswax Linen Pads 5. Resin Frankincense

6. Step 2 Embalming the Body The second step was taking the body to be embalmed. The embalmers were located in special tents or buildings. These buildings were called embalming workshops, and were maintained by teams of priests. Oftentimes during the embalming, the priests would have to step outside to get away from the horrible smell.

7. Step 3 Removal of Brain The first part of the body to be removed was the brain. Egyptians did not know the purpose of the brain, so they thought it was a waste of space. To extract the brain, a hook was inserted through the nose. The embalmers pulled out as much as they could, then put it in water to dissolve. Some people think the water was then thrown out, but others think it was taken with the mummy to the burial chamber.

8. Step 4 Removal of Internal Organs Next to be removed were the internal organs: the liver, the lungs, the stomach, and the intestines. A small slit was made on the left side of the abdomen, then the embalmers reached in and pulled out the organs. Each of the organs was individually mummified, then stored in little coffins called canopic jars.

9. Imset protected the liver. He had the head of a human.
Duamutef looked after the stomach. He had the head of a jackal.
Ha'py watched over the lungs. He had the head of a baboon.
Qebehsenuef looked over the intestines. He had the head of a falcon.

10. Once the internal organs were removed, the inside of the body was washed out with palm oil, lotions, and preserving fluids.
Next the body was stuffed with linen, straw, or other packing material to keep the general shape of the person.
Sometimes the embalmers were careless and either stuffed too much or too little. This caused the mummy to look puffy or disfigured.

11. Step 5 Drying Out Process The body was placed on a slab and covered with either nacron or natron salt. The slab was tilted so that the water would run off into a basin. This removed moisture and prevented rotting. The body was taken outside and let dry for about forty days. After the body was completely dried out, the wrapping of the body began.

12. These are the mummified remains of a pharaoh named Ramses II.

13. Step 6 Wrapping of the Body

14. Wrapping the body was a painstaking process
Wrapping the body was a painstaking process. It was anointed with oils, and a gold piece with the Eye of Horus was placed over the slit in the abdomen.
The Eye of Horus

15. Hundreds of yards of linen were used to wrap the body
Hundreds of yards of linen were used to wrap the body. Each toe and finger was wrapped separately. Charms, amulets, and inscribed pieces of papyrus were placed between each layer of bandage.
The Eye of Horus, the symbol of protection, was used often. The wrapping process would be stopped once in a while so that the priests could say prayers and write on the linen. A final shroud was placed on the mummy to keep all the wrappings together. Mummia was added to the shroud to "glue" it all together. (That's where the word "mummy" comes from.)

16. WRAPPING CONTINUED
Sometimes false eyes were inserted and make-up applied. Then a painted portrait mask was placed over the mummy's head so that dead person's soul (Ka) could recognize its owner. The mummy was then placed into a painted, decorated coffin.

17. Journey to the Underworld
The dead travel on the “Solar Barque.”
A boat for the journey is provided for a dead pharaoh in his tomb.

18. Step 7 Final Procession
The last step of mummification was the final procession, where the family and friends of the deceased walked through the town on their way to the burial place.
Before the mummy was taken inside the tomb, a ceremony called "Opening of the Mouth" took place.

19. Opening of the Mouth
The Opening of the Mouth was performed by priests outside the burial chamber.

20. The family of the mummy recited spells while priests used special instruments to touch different parts of the mummy's face. The Egyptians believed that the mummy could not eat, see, hear, or move in the afterlife if the ceremony did not take place.
The mummy was then laid in the burial chamber along with his belongings, the canopic jars, and the Book of the Dead.

21. Egyptian Book of the Dead

22. Weighing of the Heart
In this ceremony, the gods of the underworld judged the mummy's heart, or how well he behaved during his natural life. Maat, the goddess of truth, brought out her scale; on one side was the mummy's heart, and on the other was the Feather of Truth.

23. Anubis, the god of the underworld, made the final judgment, and Thoth, the scribe god, recorded it. If the heart balanced the feather, the soul of the mummy was granted immortality. If the heart was heavier than the feather (if the sins outweighed the virtues), the soul was doomed to a horrible fate. The heart was thrown to a monster called Ammit, or Devourer of the Dead.

24. The Final Judgement
Anubis Horus Osiris

25. Judgment Day
The heart of the dead is weighed against the feather. If the heart is not weighed down with sin and lighter than the feather, the dead person can go on.

26. Burial Chamber
Walls made of gilded wood and inlaid blue porcelain and painted with funerary scenes.

27. THE CURSE
“They who enter this sacred tomb shall swift be visited by the wings of death.”
Lord Carnarvon
died 7 weeks
after entering the
burial chamber
giving rise to the
theory of the
"Curse" of King Tut.

28. 1. The process of mummification was not very elaborate in the beginning. How did the ancient Egyptians mummify bodies at first? 2. Describe the seven steps in the processes of mummification. 1) ) ) ) ) ) ) What does the ceremony called the Opening of the Mouth do for the dead body? 4. Describe the role of the heart and the feather in the ceremony called the Weighing of the Heart. 5. Do you believe in the curse of King Tut?