Ritual+-+Mummification

__**Mummification**__

**//__ Process __//** **General Facts**

 ·   Mummification is the practice of embalming by the ancient Egyptians  ·  Available only to kings during the Old Kingdom (2750-2250 B.C) ·   Available to everyone during the New Kingdom (1539-1070 B.C)   ·   The level of Mummification depended on how much one could afford


 * Basic 4 Step Process**

1.  All eternal organs are removed from the body, except the heart. The heart was considered the place of intelligence and emotion, therefore kept inside the body. However organs were considered necessary in the afterlife and put in canopic jars placed in the tomb during the burial. Also, the brain was removed from the nose and discarded, where it was considered to be of no significance.

2.  Next, the body is covered and packed with natron, which is a salty drying agent, where it would be left to dry out for about forty to fifty days. The purpose of this is to absorb the body’s liquid, however the hair, skin and bones remain.

3.  The body cavity was then stuffed with resin, sawdust or linen and this restored the dead body’s form.

4.  Next, the body is wrapped tightly with linen, with luck charms, jewelry and amulets hidden between layers. A well known amulet was the “scarab beetle” this was often put over the heart.

At each wrapping stage, the priest would recite spells and prayers. This procedure was known to take a time period of about fifteen days. After the wrapping process was complete, the body was placed in a shroud.

The mummification process took a time period of seventy days.

Mummification originated in ancient Egypt, where they buried their dead in small pits in the desert. Later on they started burying their dead in coffins to protect them from the elements such as wild animals. However they soon realized that the bodies over time decayed from the exposure to hot, dry sand of the desert. Over the centuries, the Egyptians found a way to preserve the bodies and keep them looking lifelike ‘alive’.
 * //__History__//**

The first ‘mummies’ discovered in Egypt were the bodies of people who had been buried in the desert. The conditions in the sand dried their bodies out and helped them to remain whole. Rich Egyptians were mummified after death, mummification was a process used as a part of the ancient Egyptian funerary practice, it was believed that (unfinished) **__//Who was mummified?//__**
 * //__Reason for mummification__//**

In ancient Egypt mummification was not available for everyone and was usually only for people high in society. This includes the royal class, elite class, and middle class of Egyptian society. The lower class of Egyptians was generally not mummified though the desert in which they were buried caused a natural mummification. The most commonly known class of people from the time that were mummified was the royal class. This would include the Pharaohs because they would have the most elaborate funerals and the grandest of tombs. The most famous Pharaoh ever found was Tutankhamen or King Tut who was discovered by Howard Carter in 1922. The elite class included government officials, nobles and priests. These people had the resources and the wealth to be mummified after death because of their positions. The middle class in Ancient Egypt included scribes, skilled craftsman, trades people, teachers, artists and soldiers. Their burials were usually humble. Ancient Egypt generally had four classes of people all throughout its history. The lower classes of people were the peasants and farmers. The lowest class in Egyptian society was the slaves. Many mummies found from these lower classes the result of natural mummification and not the process practiced by the upper classes of society. []
 * //__What was buried with them?

What is a ritual? __//**

A ritual may be performed on specific occasions, or at the discretion of individuals or [|communities]. It may be performed by a single individual, by a group, or by the entire community; in random places, or in places especially reserved for it; either in public, in private, or before specific people. <span style="font-size: 12pt; color: black; line-height: 115%; font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Tahoma; msobidifontfamily: Tahoma; msoasciifontfamily: Calibri; msohansifontfamily: Calibri;">A ritual can also be restricted to a certain subset of the community, and may enable or underscore the passage between religious or social states. Links

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 * //__Links__//**