History

The Mummification Process Video Quiz

To know more about the mummification process, you need to travel back to Ancient Egypt, to the fertile lands of River Nile. According to their religion and belief in the afterlife, bodies had to be preserved and mummified. Death was just a transition from one life to another. They believed that they had to preserve their bodies so they could lead a new life.

What is a mummy?

A mummy is a person whose soft tissue (things like skin or muscle) has been preserved. Egyptian mummies are intentional, meaning that people performed specific rituals on the remains of a person to preserve this soft tissue. The ancient Egyptians also mummified animals, including dogs, cats, and birds.

If you wonder if everybody was mummified in Ancient Egypt, the answer is no: mummification was an expensive process. Pharaohs were commonly mummified and buried in elaborate tombs. Non-royals were also mummified. However, their mummification wasn’t necessarily as thorough as royalty, depending on what their family could afford.

The mummification of a poor person could be as simple as washing out the intestines and covering the body with natron, then covering them with minimal wrappings and burying them in a shallow grave or cave.

So, what are the step in the Egyptian mummification process?

The first step was washing the body with water from the Nile River, which was sacred because it helped their crops grow.

Then, they removed the brain using a brain hook (they discarded the brain!)

In a third step, the priests would remove other internal organs. The heart was the most important since they believed it was the seat of one’s spirit and being. Each organ was put in one of four canopic jars to be protected by one of the Four Sons of Horus.

Later, after the priests removed the organs, they covered the body inside and out with natron. Natron is a naturally occurring salt from the Egyptian desert that absorbs moisture and fat. They had to replace the natron every couple weeks. This portion of the process lasted about 40 days.

Next, it was time to wrap the mummy. Wrapping the mummy was symbolic in many ways. The priests would then tuck amulets into the mummy’s wrappings. An amulet is an object that people believe will protect the person who carries it. The ancient Egyptians would also put a mask over the wrapped mummy’s face.

Finally, the mummy would be placed in a coffin, and in the case of the pharaoh, they would put the coffin inside a pyramid.

Now, watch this video and take the quiz to see how much you have learnt about the mummification process.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: You need to answer all the questions to be able to submit your answers, and you’ll get immediate feedback on your mistakes without having to provide any email!

Canopic Jars
The jar for the intestines had a falcon head, called Qebehsenuf
For the stomach they had a jar with the head of a desert dog, called Duamutef
The jar for the liver had the head of an ape, called Hapy
For the lungs they had a jar with a human head, called Imsety

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