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Ancient Egyptian Mummies And Facts About Them

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by: herbertmcgraw
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Word Count: 443
Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2011 Time: 11:16 PM

This was a process which was used to preserve their dead. They started by burying them deep inside the underground pits which they dug The buried corpses automatically dehydrated with the help of moisture free heat and sand. Among other prominent features of this civilization, this fact is one of the most striking ones. This is how mummies became an entity. There always was this constant fear of animals digging and eating up the bodies To avoid this they started preserving the dead in the coffins, but the bodies here decayed, as they did not get enough preservatives in the form of natural heat and sand By way of preserving their dead, they came by this process which is popularly known as 'mummification', throughout the world. To mummify a dead body, the process has been divided into two basic steps.

This is thereafter followed by wrapping of the body thus making it appropriate for the burial. For a complete mummification of any dead, both these steps have to be completed successfully and properly. The body is washed with the water from the Nile and wine of the Palms This is done within an enclosure called "ibu" also known as tent of purification The side of the dead body is opened to take out the body parts which decompose immediately. Their belief that heart is needed to ascertain the man's character in his next birth is so deeply embedded in their minds that they do not remove it Even with passage of time , their faith in this theory has not diminished a bit. Using a stick and pushing it up through the nose they pulled out the brain This was done so that the body dries up from within.

On the completion of this period of forty days, the body was washed once again and oil rubbed all over it extravagantly. The organs taken out and dehydrated were also kept aside in the jars dedicated to different gods, or at times put back in the body Thereafter the body is stuffed with soft cloth, leaves and saw dust Lastly the finishing of the dead body was done by wrapping strips of linen. Talisman was kept on the body to ensure that they journey after life, of the dead body was easy. With the help of liquid resin, they kept the bandages intact and stuck together. The rituals done, the body was now taken to be kept inside the tomb. With festivities and celebrations the dead body was taken into the tomb. This was the last of the rituals carried out. This is how the process of mummification came into being.