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Mummification
The term mummy is used to describe a naturally or
artificially preserved body in which desiccation of the tissues has
enabled it to resist putrefaction. There are examples of such bodies
in several countries, although originally mummy (derived from the
Arabic or Persian word mumia, meaning “bitumen,” or “pitch”) was
only used to describe the artificially preserved bodies from Egypt.
Human remains are indefinitely preserved in a number of ways in
different countries.
Natural environmental conditions such as dryness of sand in which the body is buried, heat or cold of the climate, or absence of air in the burial are major factors in this unintentional type of preservation. Sometimes these natural conditions were enhanced intentionally to achieve the preservation of the body. True mummification, however, is an intentional method using a process of sophisticated and intrusive techniques. Egyptian mummies provide the best example of this method. The geography and environment of Egypt produced conditions that allowed natural, unintentional mummification. The dead were buried in shallow pits on the edges of the desert, and the combination of the sun’s heat and the dryness of the sand ensured that the body tissues became desiccated before decomposition occurred. In c.3400 BC, however, advances in building techniques led to the introduction of tombs with brick-lined burial chambers for the upper classes. The environmental conditions that had previously ensured preservation were now absent, and the bodies rapidly decomposed. But religious beliefs required that the body be preserved and recognizable to the owner’s spirit (ka) when it returned to the tomb for sustenance. Until recently, it was believed that it was these architectural changes that instigated the development of mummification techniques. There is certainly some evidence that a period of experimentation took place. In the early dynasties, there were apparently attempts to use natron as a means of dehydrating the skin, and the Egyptians undertook experiments to re-create the bodily shape by covering it with fine linen and then coating it with stucco plaster in order to preserve its contours. This technique emphasized the breasts, genitalia, and facial features with molding and painted representations of the details; nonetheless, underneath the bandages the body still decomposed, and in reality these attempts produced nothing more than a skeleton encased within a wrapped and molded structure. The discovery at Giza of the tomb of Queen Hetepheres, mother of King Cheops, produced evidence that for decades was regarded as the earliest confirmed use of true mummification (Dynasty 4, c.2600 BC). A box containing the viscera of the queen was found in this tomb, and it was reported that analysis of these packets showed that natron had been used to treat the organs. Current excavations at Hieraconpolis, however, are revealing evidence suggesting that the origin of mummification goes back much further, and that it was already in use, at least at Hieraconpolis, some 5,600 years ago. As these facts emerge, the early history of mummification will have to be reexamined, and probably rewritten. Until the Christian era (some 2,000 years), true mummification was practiced in Egypt. Introduced for royalty, mummification gradually became available for all who could afford it, and in the Greco- Roman Period it became widespread. It was never universally available, however, and most poor people continued to be buried in shallow graves in the desert. For a detailed description of the embalming process, see “Mummification Techniques” in ECONOMY AND INDUSTRY. .
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Mummification
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