With 70 percent of the population dying so young (between 35 - 45 years of age) burial was essential, and the first methods of burial were simple sand pits. The body was laid within a sand pit (approx 2 mtrs long, 1 mtr wide and 3 mtr deep), provisioned with offering pots of bread and beer plus any personal items, a reed mat was then placed over the body and the sand was filled in. The hot sand, which came into contact with the body, produced natural mummification.
The drawback with this method of burial was the wind in the dessert area would blow the sand out of the grave exposing the body to scavengers, which lived in the dessert areas.
The next stage of development of burial in Egypt, were clay pots the body was stuffed within the pot and then placed into the sand pit. Unfortunately production costs of making the pots resulted in an expensive method of burial, which only the very rich could afford. The same problem arose when using wood to house the body. Reed baskets were used but were not secure enough if the sand was not covering the body.
So the next development in burial was again dig a sand pit but this time line the inside walls with stone, place the body within the chamber, and then sealed the open pit with a mud brick wall, this was an extremely cheap method of burial and kept out the scavengers, the drawback was the loss of contact of the hot sand against the body which led to the body decomposing, so to avoid this happening the Egyptians developed the method of mummification.
Seventy percent of Egyptians came into contact with the land and the Nile. One of the biggest unseen problems in ancient times was the Nile worm, which came from the snails that live in the river. The worm would enter the body and work its way slowly under the skin until it reached the kidneys. Once there, it would lay eggs starting a new generation of worms. Because of this affliction many ancient Egyptians died at between 30 – 35 years of age. The Richer people in society, who did not have contact with the land suffered could still contract Nile Worm, but much latter in there lives, these people within the higher ranks of society would only live to 50 – 60 years of age.
