The ancient Egyptian people believed in an afterlife and in this “life after death,” people re-entered their bodies. This is why the Egyptians wanted the bodies preserved so that the person’s body would be recognizable after they had died. Mummification is an intricate process that took a lot of time and effort to complete and because of how well preserved these bodies are, we are still able to learn things from them today.
The art of mummification has significant origins in the history of the Nile river area. Humans from the Neolithic age buried their dead in this dry, sandy area and because of these environmental conditions, the bodies were naturally dried out and preserved (David 65). In the early Egyptian’s history, mummification was something …show more content…
The whole procedure took around seventy days to complete and began with the insertion of a hook through the nose in order to remove the brain (Crosby). Then after that, an incision on the body’s left side near the stomach was made to remove all of the internal organs. After the internal organs were dried, everything except the heart was put into canopic jars; the heart was placed back inside of the body. The canopic jars each had a different lid which depicted a different being that guarded an organ. Imsety, which was just a normal human head, guarded the liver. Qebhesneuf, represented with a falcon, looked after the intestines. Hapy safeguarded the lungs and was portrayed as a baboon. Also a jackal called Duamutef watched over the stomach. The inside of the body was later rinsed with wine and spices and …show more content…
The Roman Catholic church had been using this method for a long time as well because they wanted to preserve certain, prominent members of their faith, like their popes. For instance, in the Capuchins’ catacombs located in Palermo, Italy one can see thousands of naturally and artificially preserved bodies. The way that some of the mummies in these catacombs are displayed and contained is different than the way that the Egyptians did it. Some of these mummies are displayed in very lifelike positions and housed in glass cases. A lot of the mummies in Palermo were embalmed similar to how the Egyptians did it but others were dipped into either lime or arsenic. The most common method for this area in Italy was to place the bodies in dry, volcanic soil and then bathed in water and vinegar (Jeremiah 49-52). Also, when the Greeks came into Alexandria, Egypt and took over, they showed a fascination in the process of mummification that the Egyptians had practiced. This was thought-provoking because of the fact that the Greeks because they had previously only practiced cremation and had prohibited the act of dissecting a human body. Even the Greek physicians were forbidden from cutting into the bodies that they studied. The Egyptian physicians in Alexandria were really the only people at this time who had an intimate knowledge of the human body and its anatomy. Under the Greek control, the process of
The art of mummification has significant origins in the history of the Nile river area. Humans from the Neolithic age buried their dead in this dry, sandy area and because of these environmental conditions, the bodies were naturally dried out and preserved (David 65). In the early Egyptian’s history, mummification was something …show more content…
The whole procedure took around seventy days to complete and began with the insertion of a hook through the nose in order to remove the brain (Crosby). Then after that, an incision on the body’s left side near the stomach was made to remove all of the internal organs. After the internal organs were dried, everything except the heart was put into canopic jars; the heart was placed back inside of the body. The canopic jars each had a different lid which depicted a different being that guarded an organ. Imsety, which was just a normal human head, guarded the liver. Qebhesneuf, represented with a falcon, looked after the intestines. Hapy safeguarded the lungs and was portrayed as a baboon. Also a jackal called Duamutef watched over the stomach. The inside of the body was later rinsed with wine and spices and …show more content…
The Roman Catholic church had been using this method for a long time as well because they wanted to preserve certain, prominent members of their faith, like their popes. For instance, in the Capuchins’ catacombs located in Palermo, Italy one can see thousands of naturally and artificially preserved bodies. The way that some of the mummies in these catacombs are displayed and contained is different than the way that the Egyptians did it. Some of these mummies are displayed in very lifelike positions and housed in glass cases. A lot of the mummies in Palermo were embalmed similar to how the Egyptians did it but others were dipped into either lime or arsenic. The most common method for this area in Italy was to place the bodies in dry, volcanic soil and then bathed in water and vinegar (Jeremiah 49-52). Also, when the Greeks came into Alexandria, Egypt and took over, they showed a fascination in the process of mummification that the Egyptians had practiced. This was thought-provoking because of the fact that the Greeks because they had previously only practiced cremation and had prohibited the act of dissecting a human body. Even the Greek physicians were forbidden from cutting into the bodies that they studied. The Egyptian physicians in Alexandria were really the only people at this time who had an intimate knowledge of the human body and its anatomy. Under the Greek control, the process of