Mummies have been found in other places around the world, but Egyptian ones are the most recognized. They started the process of mummification around 2600 BC. There are a few questions that people might ask: What did death mean to the ancient Egyptians? Why did they mummify the bodies of the dead? Why did they want to preserve the appearance of life in their dead for all eternity? We think we know plenty about mummification in ancient Egypt. A common misconception of mummification is that it was only used to honor Pharaohs or wealthy individuals in the afterlife. Then again, research has shown that the Egyptians used the process of mummification to preserve the human body to enter the afterlife. This preservation took time, as well as skill
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This belief lead to them going through different processes of mummification until they got to what we know mummies as today- bodies wrapped in bandages from head to toe. There was a religious perspective when it came to mummification. They had priests present during the procedure to pray for the deceased. “The Egyptians believed that every person was composed of three essential elements: body, ba, and ka” (Ancient Egyptians). The body is the physical body and is unique to each individual since everyone looks different. Each person also has a ba. The ba is not a physical thing; however, it is also unique to each individual. Ba is our version of "personality" or "character." Every individual also has a ka, which we can consider the life force, or soul of the person. “The Egyptians believed that when a person died, the ba and ka become separated from the body though they do not die… In the next world, or underworld the goal is to live with ones ka. In order for this to happen the ka needs to be summoned back to the body and recognize it” (Ancient Egyptians) . The Egyptians believed they were assuring themselves a successful rebirth into the afterlife through mummification. When mummification first started, “Egyptians buried their dead directly into the desert, relying on the sand and hot climate to perform a natural sort of mummification” (DaVaun Sanders). Later they started to use coffins to bury the dead. However, they encountered a problem with using the coffins- the body decayed and left an unpleasant odor in the air after a while. To fight off this rapid decay of the body, they had to develop much better mummification techniques to preserve the body of the deceased. The first modification made was just wrapping the body in bandages without cleaning it. Later
This belief lead to them going through different processes of mummification until they got to what we know mummies as today- bodies wrapped in bandages from head to toe. There was a religious perspective when it came to mummification. They had priests present during the procedure to pray for the deceased. “The Egyptians believed that every person was composed of three essential elements: body, ba, and ka” (Ancient Egyptians). The body is the physical body and is unique to each individual since everyone looks different. Each person also has a ba. The ba is not a physical thing; however, it is also unique to each individual. Ba is our version of "personality" or "character." Every individual also has a ka, which we can consider the life force, or soul of the person. “The Egyptians believed that when a person died, the ba and ka become separated from the body though they do not die… In the next world, or underworld the goal is to live with ones ka. In order for this to happen the ka needs to be summoned back to the body and recognize it” (Ancient Egyptians) . The Egyptians believed they were assuring themselves a successful rebirth into the afterlife through mummification. When mummification first started, “Egyptians buried their dead directly into the desert, relying on the sand and hot climate to perform a natural sort of mummification” (DaVaun Sanders). Later they started to use coffins to bury the dead. However, they encountered a problem with using the coffins- the body decayed and left an unpleasant odor in the air after a while. To fight off this rapid decay of the body, they had to develop much better mummification techniques to preserve the body of the deceased. The first modification made was just wrapping the body in bandages without cleaning it. Later