Thus, preserving bodies in as lifelike a way as possible was the goal of mummification, and essential to the continuation of life. The Egyptians believed that the mummified body housed one's soul or spirit. If the body was destroyed, the spirit could be lost and not make its entrance into the afterlife. This is also why tomb preparation was a crucial ritual in Egyptian society. Though the practice of mummification began in Egypt around B.
These attitudes slowly shifted around B. A study on the materials used during the mummification procedure in ancient Egypt revealed that the process took 70 days. During this time, priests worked as embalmers and performed rituals and prayers in addition to treating and wrapping the body. The general steps involved in the mummification process are as follows: First, internal body parts that could decay, such as the brain, are removed.
The next step involved removing all the moisture from the body by covering the body with natron , a type of salt that acted as a preservative and drying agent. Wrapping up the corpse was the last step in the procedure and involved more than a hundred yards of linen, smeared over with gum. Because mummification was expensive, cheaper alternatives were offered for the poor.
The ancient Greek historian Herodotus described three different mummification methods based on social class that were offered by embalmers of the day. The brain was drawn out through the nostrils using a crooked piece of iron. Contents of the belly were taken out and the interior was cleaned using palm-wine and aromatics. The belly was filled with pure myrrh , cassia and other spices and then sewn together again.
Indeed, for many decades mummies have been in the casts of horror movies and gothic novels and filed away in the public imagination as belonging to arcane religious rites. But mummification was a widespread and honored tradition in the ancient world, one that was imbued with deep religious significance and often performed by skilled specialists. It was practiced as a way to venerate the dead, or express an important religious belief — especially a belief in an afterlife.
Various cultures have been known to mummify their dead. The most well known are the ancient Egyptians , but the Chinese, the ancient people of the Canary Islands, the Guanches, and many pre-Columbian societies of South America, including the Incas , practiced mummification as well.
Related: Photos: Mummies discovered in tombs in ancient Egyptian city. Mummification is the process of preserving the body after death by deliberately drying or embalming flesh. This typically involved removing moisture from a deceased body and using chemicals or natural preservatives, such as resin, to desiccate the flesh and organs. Mummies are also created by unintentional or accidental processes, which is known as "natural" mummification. This can happen when a dead body is exposed to extreme cold, very dry conditions, or some other environmental factor that mitigates against decay.
The oldest mummy on record in North America, found at Spirit Cave, outside of Fallon, Nevada, is an example of natural mummification. Wrapped in a Tule mat, it was found in a shallow grave and preserved by the dry atmosphere and rarefied air of the cave. Discovered in , and originally believed to be between 1, and 2, years old, the individual was subsequently radiocarbon dated in the s and determined to be over 10, years old, Live Science previously reported.
In contrast, the oldest known Egyptian mummy that was naturally preserved dates to just over 5, years ago, Live Science reported. That mummy was of a young woman whose body was wrapped in linen and fur after she died. The oldest deliberately interred mummies were unearthed in the Camarones Valley of Chile.
This valley is in the far north of the country, in a region called the Atacama Desert. A narrow strip of land between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes Mountains, this desert receives little rainfall and is considered one of the driest places on Earth. The mummies belong to what Uhle called the Chinchorro culture 9, to 3, years ago , who lived in what is now southern Peru and northern Chile. Chinchorro people settled in coastal villages and relied on fishing as their primary means of subsistence, using fishing hooks made out of shellfish.
They also hunted animals on land and gathered edible plants from the surrounding area. Related: Desert dryness inspired mummy diversity.
The Chinchorro practice of mummification began around 7, years ago, some two millennia before the first known Egyptian mummies, according to the same CNN report. Although the practice became more sophisticated over time, the basic process remained the same. When the Arabs encountered the Egyptian mummies in the seventh century CE they thought they were covered in tar. Although the Egyptians did occasionally use tar in the mummification process, most mummies were coated in dark resins, which gave the skin a black colour.
The Egyptians referred to dead bodies as khat and used the word sah for bodies that had undergone the rites of mummification. The traditional view was that it began with the preservation of Old Kingdom royals about BCE and developed from the observation of bodies that had been naturally preserved in hot desert sands.
New evidence shows that artificial mummification had its origins much earlier.
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