Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Seeking immortality

The people of ancient Egypt believed that the body had to be mummified to preserve it for the life that was to follow death on earth. For a New Kingdom pharaoh, the mummification process is thought to have taken seventy days. The brain was usually extracted through the nose and discarded. The heart was left in the body. The liver, lungs, stomach and intestines were stored in four canopic jars that were left in the tomb. The body was dried with natron before being packed with materials such as resin and linen. Finally, it was wrapped and adorned with protective amulets.
Photo of Anubis and mummy, Valley of the Kings
An image from the Book of the Dead on a wall in the tomb of Twosret and Setnakhte. Anubis, the jackal-headed guardian deity of the dead, prepares a mummy. Four canopic jars await internal organs.

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