Egyptian Mummies
Mummies of Ancient Egypt
Techniques of mummification
The practice of mummification survived until about 2600 BC when the Muslim Arabs conquered Egypt in AD 641. At its height, around the time of the 21st reign of pharaohs (about 1085 - 945 BC), It took about 70 days for the most sophisticated techniques of mummification to complete.
A cut of about 100mm (4 inches) long near the left hip was made to be able to remove the internal organs. The organs were then cleaned in a mixture of wine and spices, Cedar oil was used to flush the abdominal cavity. To remove the brain, a technique was used by forcing a pointed tool up through the nose. The contents of the skull were then scraped out.
Egyptian Mummies wrapped in linen of about 1.5 miles long
Body handed back to family for burial
The organs were individually wrapped and replaced in the body. The body was filled with linen and sawdust, the use of mud and tar was also incorporated.
Tiny wads of linen under the skin of the face were inserted into a natural look of fleshiness.
The head and torso were wrapped separately. Layers of resin-smeared linen were used for about 1-5 miles long (2.5 km) before the body was handed back to the family for burial.
Sacred Cats
Sacred Cats and Bulls
The bodies of sacred cats and other animals like bulls were also preserved by the Ancient Egyptians. This practice of mummified cats dates back from about the start of the first century AD.
Some of King Tut's treasures
Treasury of a Teenage King
Gold figurines, jewelry, and masks were found when British archaeologist, Howard Carter uncovered the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun in November 1922. It was one of the most stunning archaeologist finds of all time. When asking Carter what he could see on peering for the first time into the tomb, said he could only gasp: 'Wonderful things ... ' Yet Tutankhamun who died in about 1352 BC at the age of 18 or 19, was only a minor pharaoh. Far more amazing treasures must have been buried with the more important pharaohs. But their larger and more conspicuous tombs were emptied by grave-robbers thousands of years ago.
Death mask of King Tutankhamun
Goddess Selket from the tomb of Tutankhamun
See-through clothes
It was fashionable for centuries in Ancient Egypt to wear fine linen, compared to modern nylon stockings and thought to be worn by both men and women. A statue of Selket, a scorpion goddess, was made of gilded wood for the tomb of Tutankhamun in the 14th century BC.
