Ancient Egyptian mummies have long sparked our imaginations, starring in countless horror films and novels. But what are they? How were they made? Why were they made? That's
mystery of
mummy.The Egyptian mummification process is basically a means of preserving a dead body. Without preservation, a body will decompose, leaving only
bones. The Egyptian mummification process therefore prevents a body from decomposing, allowing
deceased to resemble what he looked like when he was still alive.
THE FINAL JUDGMENT
To
ancient Egyptians, a person is composed of 6 different parts: his body, ba (personality or character), ka (spirit of life), akh (immortal soul), as well as his name and his shadow. A person is not whole if he is missing any of these parts.
The ancient Egyptians believed in
afterlife. They believed that when a person died, he continued living in another plane of life in
underworld. Since he is still considered to be "alive", all 6 parts of that person should be intact for him to live properly. Hence
need for preservation of
body, and
creation of
ancient Egyptian mummies.
An important belief in ancient Egypt, and
source of many Egyptian paintings, is
Final Judgment. It describes what happens after a person physically dies. The paintings show
recently deceased describing his deeds to a panel of judges. He is then led to
scales of balance by Anubis,
jackal-headed god of mummification and
afterlife. Here, his heart, which contains all
evil that he has committed, is weighed against
feather of Ma'at, goddess of truth and justice.
Thoth,
ibis-headed god of wisdom, records
outcome. If
heart is heavier,
deceased is judged too evil and undeserving of a place in
afterlife. The heart will then be devoured by Ammit,
god with
head of a crocodile and
body of a hippopotamus.
If
feather of Ma'at is heavier,
person is deemed worthy, and is taken by Horus,
falcon-headed god, to
afterlife and
underworld, ruled by Osiris.
THE MUMMIFICATION PROCESS