1. Worshipping the Gods & The Story of Mummification
Ancient Egyptian Religion
Worshipping the Gods & The Story of Mummification

2. Main Beliefs Religion guided every aspect of Egyptian life. Based on:
Polytheism.
Worshipping Gods – temples
Funeral ritual – mummification as
preparation for afterlife
Pharaohs were living Gods
Priest were also of great importance.
The Eye of Horus(or Ra) – symbol of protection, royal power and good health

3. Who were the Gods?
The Egyptians had as many as 2000 gods and goddesses.
Some, were worshipped throughout the whole country, while others had only a local following.
Many of them representing different aspects of life and nature.
Often gods and goddesses were represented as part human and part animal.
The Egyptians had many tales about how the world began.

4. Egyptian Mythology
The first humans were created by the happy tears of Ra (the sun god) when he was reunited with Shu (god of air) and Tefnut (goddess of moisture)
Nut and Geb were the children of Shu and Tefnut.
Their children were:

5. Isis, Osiris, & Set Isis was worshipped as the perfect mother & wife
Friend of slaves & sinners
Source of the Nile’s annual floods (tears for husband’s death  a gift that helped farmers
Osiris was honoured as the bringer of civilization
Killed by jealous brother Set
Became the merciful judge of the dead
Set was god of the desert, storms, and chaos

6. Worshipping the Gods
Egyptians built temple complexes along the Nile River.
Temples were considered dwelling places for the gods.
Each city had a temple built for the god of that city.
The purpose of the temple was to be a cosmic center by which men had communication with the gods.

7. Funerary Ritual
The Egyptians saw death as a transitional stage in the progress to a better life in the next world.
They believed they could only reach their full potential after death.
Each person was thought to have three souls, the "ka," the "ba," and the "akh.“
For these to function properly, it was considered essential for the body to survive intact.
Their belief in the rebirth after death became their driving force behind the mummification process.

8. Ancient Egyptian mummification developed over time.
The first burials in the hot desert sands led to natural mummification of the whole body.
Later, placing the body in a coffin meant that only the skeleton survived.
Then the Egyptians learned how to artificially mummify the body before putting it in the coffin.

9. Early mummification was a natural process.
Bodies placed in the hot sand dehydrated because the hot sand absorbed the water in the body.
The desert sand was hot and dry.
Dehydration (drying out) preserved the whole body.

10. The result is a natural sand-dried mummy.
preserved skin
burial in sand
grave goods

11. But bodies buried in the desert sands were at risk from wild animals.
Munch munch…
If animals attacked the bodies they would not be preserved and would not reach the afterlife intact.
How could the ancient Egyptians protect the bodies of the dead?

12. So the Egyptians started to place the body in a coffin.
Will this work?
This is a skeleton (not a mummy).
The soft tissue rotted away.
The whole body needed to be preserved for the afterlife.
Why was the body not preserved?
The hot dry sand could not reach the body to dry it out…
thus, the soft tissue rotted away.

13. Artificial Mummification
The ancient Egyptians realised they needed to mummify the dead bodies artificially before they placed them in the coffin.
they artificially dehydrated the body and the internal organs
they wrapped the body in linen bandages and placed it in a coffin
the put the organs in canopic jars…
and put the coffin, canopic jars and grave goods into the tomb.
This process was very expensive so over 95% of the population were buried in the sand and ended up like the first natural sand-dried mummy.

14. They removed the other organs and dried them to preserve them.
Herodotus provides us with written evidence of the process of mummification. The British Museum contains objects and documents which help us to understand how this process was carried out.
The Egyptians did not understand what the brain was for. They needed to take it out to preserve the body. The easiest way to do this was through the nose with a hooked probe.
A small incision (cut) was made in the left side of the body to remove the internal organs.
They left the heart inside the body. It would be needed during the journey to the afterlife where it was weighed against the feather of truth.
The first picture show a bronze probe used to remove the brain. X-rays can reveal the small broken bones in the nasal cavity caused by this process. The second picture shows bronze tweezers. These were used by the Egyptians to remove hair but examples of various sizes have also been found in embalmers kits and are thought to have helped remove the organs. The third picture shows a small section of a scene from the Book of the Dead of Hunefer, around 1275BC. This shows Hunefer’s heart being weighed against the feather of Maat (the established order of things). Anubis watches over the scales whilst the ‘devourer’ (shown here as part-crocodile, part-lion and part-hippopotamus) waits to see the judgement. If the heart is heavier than the feather then the deceased would be eaten by the devourer and not reach the afterlife.
They removed the other organs and dried them to preserve them.

15. The organs could be placed in Canopic jars to keep them safe.
Qebehsenuef the falcon-headed god looks after the intestines.
The organs could be placed in Canopic jars to keep them safe.
These are painted wooden canopic jars depicting the Sons of Horus. They date from approximately 700BC.
Which organ goes in each canopic jar? Look at the heads.
Hapy the baboon-headed god looks after the lungs.

16. Duamutef the jackal-headed god looks after the stomach.
Imsety the human-headed god looks after the liver.

17. They washed the body with pleasant smelling liquids.
They then covered it in natron (natural salt) for 40 days. This dehydrated (dried out) the body and stopped it rotting. This ensured the body was preserved.
The first object is a painted jar. The decoration is coloured blue, red and black. The motifs are floral with echoes of the elaborate collars worn by wealthy Egyptians. It dates from around 1300BC. The second picture shows a linen bag containing salt. Salt was piled over the body and could also be placed inside to aid dehydration. The third object is a faience perfume jar in the shape of a lotus bud dating to around 1300BC. It was found in the cemetary of an Egyptian colony in Sudan.
Once the body had dehydrated it was washed again using perfumes and oils.

18. The clean and dehydrated body was then carefully wrapped in linen sheets and strips.
The body was wrapped very carefully to look like a human figure. This shape could be used in the afterlife if the person’s body itself did not survive very well.
The first picture shows a piece of linen decorated with blue and red stripes on the edge. It dates from around 1550BC. Mummy bandages were not always specifically made but could be strips of household linen. The second picture shows the mummy of a young woman, BC. The two amulets are types that were commonly included in mummy wrappings. The eye shaped amulet is the Eye of Horus, a wedjat. This shape is associated with healing and ‘making whole’. The regenerative nature of this amulet meant it is found in great quantities associated with mummies. The winged amulet is a pectoral depicting a hovering falcon. It is gold with inlaid glass, dating from after 600BC.
Amulets were placed in the mummy wrappings. These were like good luck charms and were used to protect the body.

19. The mummified body was placed in a coffin
The mummified body was placed in a coffin. This coffin could be shaped like a human.
The first coffin shown was found in It belongs to King Nebkheperra Intef who ruled in the 17th Dynasty and dates from around 1600BC. The second coffin shown is the inner coffin of Henutmehyt, about 1250BC. The coffin is covered entirely in gold leaf apart from her wig, eyes and eyebrows.
The coffin could be painted or embellished with other decoration such as gold.

20. The family then took the coffin to the tomb.
Funeral ceremonies were performed and the tomb was sealed with the hope that the dead person would reach the afterlife.

21. The After Life Death is not seen as the last stage of life.
Before the mummy can reach the underworld it has to pass through seven gates, aided by the magic spells inscribed upon the funerary objects.
The dead arrives in the presence of Osiris (god of the underworld)
A ceremony called the 'weighing of the heart‘ is performed
The heart is weighed on a scale by the jackal headed god Anubis (god of dead) against the feather of Ma'at (goddess of truth)
Balancing the scale meant immortality.
If the scale did not balance then Amemt (crocodile headed god) would eat the heart, and Seth, murderer of Osiris ate the rest of the body.

22. The After Life Death is not seen as the last stage of life.
Before the mummy can reach the underworld it has to pass through seven gates, aided by the magic spells inscribed upon the funerary objects.
The dead arrives in the presence of Osiris (god of the underworld)
A ceremony called the 'weighing of the heart‘ is performed
The heart is weighed on a scale by the jackal headed god Anubis (god of dead) against the feather of Ma'at (goddess of truth)
Balancing the scale meant immortality.
If the scale did not balance then Amemt (crocodile headed god) would eat the heart, and Seth, murderer of Osiris ate the rest of the body.

23. The Priesthood
As the priests became more powerful, tombs became a part of great temples.
The priests duty was to care for the gods and attend to their needs.
The priests had many responsibilities such as funeral rites, teaching school, supervising the artists and works, and advising people on problems.