Mummies of Ancient Egypt

The word mummy is derived from the Persian mumeia, referring to the bitumen material that covered the Egyptian corpse. Thousands of Egyptian mummies have been excavated, hundreds of thousands have been lost to mummy exportation and modern urban sprawl; perhaps millions more remain in the tombs and shifting sands of Egypt.

Mummies have been part of popular culture throughout the past millennium. The European mummy trade was active for centuries, and much of this interest in mummies increased as a result of Napoleon's Nile military campaign of 1799 when a French soldier found the Rosetta stone. This stone had three sections of writing, Greek and two forms of old Egyptian writing, namely demotic script and hieroglyphics. In 1823, linguist JeanFrançois Champollion cracked the demotic and hieroglyphic code, which was based on a language related to Coptic.

From the Middle Ages onward, Europeans were fascinated with mummies. Placed on public display throughout Europe from the 1400s through the [Page 759]1700s, mummies were thought to have medicinal benefits. Thus, human bones were ground into powder intended to serve as a cure for migraines, stomach ulcers, paralysis, and poisoning. Mummies also were used by farmers as fertilizer. Artistic paint mixed with mummy powder was used to create colors thought to have a longer lasting effect. In the 1800s, in Canada, the linen used to wrap mummies was imported to make paper, but this practice ended because of the fear of disease. And, even in Egypt, mummies were burned to fuel trains. Today, Egyptian mummies remain popular attractions for a variety of venues, including horror movies and museum exhibits.

Much of what is known about ancient Egypt is centered on Egyptian beliefs of death. Within this cultural orientation it was believed that an individual continued to exist; that is, the dead would be reborn. All that they possessed and all that made them what they were in this life remained when they were reborn. Based on this belief, many ancient Egyptians spent their entire life preparing for death. Wealthy individuals also believed this transition should be celebrated.

The ancient Egyptian death ritual progressed in an orchestrated manner after death, with mourning, preparation of the corpse, interment, and rituals for the deceased that would be continued in perpetuity. Mourning the deceased lasted up to 70 days. Believed to be useful in assisting the living to cope with death, ceremonies such as the “opening of the mouth” were thought to reanimate the dead organs and senses, particularly affecting the deceased's future ability to speak. Thus, the mummy and a statue of the deceased would be touched by a priest near the mouth using tools such as an adze and a forked pesesh-kef knife. This allowed the corpse to speak words that would enable the individual to continue on the path to the afterlife. Families also spoke with and brought food to the corpse, while also performing rituals during the mourning period.

Believing in the afterlife, Egyptians kept the corpse intact through mummification. The preDynastic Egyptians noticed dried bodies were preserved by hot, dry sand, and were not destroyed by maggots that would normally thrive on decaying tissue. During the Early Dynastic period (3150–2686 B.C.E.) attempts were made to stop the postmortem putrefaction by wrapping corpses in linen.

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