How Egyptian Priests Prepared a Mummy for the Afterlife
During the New Kingdom period of ancient Egypt, approximately between 1570 and 1075 BC, the intricate 70-day mummification procedure was both a surgical and spiritual endeavor. Priests would extract the brain through the nostrils, discarding it, and perform an incision on the left side of the abdomen to take out the stomach, intestines, lungs, and liver. The heart was preserved for the Weighing of the Heart Ceremony. The body underwent desiccation with natron for 40 days, followed by treatment with palm wine and herbs. Organs were dried, wrapped in linen, and stored in canopic jars, safeguarded by the Four Sons of Horus. The wrapping process lasted up to 15 days and included amulets, concluding with the Opening of the Mouth Ceremony before the mummy was placed in its sarcophagus.
Key facts
- The mummification process took 70 days and was performed by specialist priests during the New Kingdom (c. 1570–1075 BC).
- The brain was liquefied with a bronze hook inserted through the nostrils and then discarded as non-essential.
- An obsidian knife was used for the abdominal incision because stone was considered ritually purer than bronze.
- The heart, called the Ib, was left in the body to be weighed against the feather of Ma'at in the Weighing of the Heart Ceremony.
- Natron, a natural salt mixture, desiccated the body for 40 days, killing bacteria and turning fats into soap.
- The Four Sons of Horus protected the canopic jars: Imsety (liver), Hapy (lungs), Duamutef (stomach), and Qebehseneuf (intestines).
- Wrapping could take up to 15 days and included 20 to 100 amulets, such as the Wedjat, Djed Pillar, Ankh, and heart scarab.
- The Opening of the Mouth Ceremony had 75 steps and was performed by a Sem-Priest to restore the mummy's senses.
Entities
Artists
- Anubis
- Isis
- Osiris
- Horus
- Imsety
- Hapy
- Duamutef
- Qebehseneuf
- Nephthys
- Neith
- Serket
- Ma'at
- Khepri
- Hunefer
- Ani
- Ramses II
- Tutankhamun
- Ay
- Psusennes
- Amenemope
- Hatnefer
- Isetemkheb
Institutions
- British Museum
- Wellcome Collection
- Museo Egizio
- Louvre
- Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities
- Grand Egyptian Museum
- Walters Museum of Art
- Museum of Fine Arts Boston
- Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Egypt Museum
Locations
- Egypt
- Nile
- Valley of the Kings
- Tanis
- Cairo
- Turin
- Italy
- London
- United Kingdom
- Boston
- United States
- New York City