drying out and covering body with natron ancient egypt

Coating the wrappings with resin made from the sap of various conifers was one improvement. During the Middle Kingdom embalmers experimented with various improved methods of preserving the body.

Sometimes the toes and fingers were individually wrapped. Within the body wrappings, embalmers placed sacred amulets bearing spells and incantations that were thought to help the soul speed into the next world. The body was laid flat with the hands stretched out beside the body. The drying out procedure was followed with rinsing the body, then covering it with oil. The consistent use of natron did not occur until the 12th Dynasty of the Middle Kingdom. When the body was packed in natron crystals, the moisture was drawn out of the skin tissue. This is a compound of salts that is a close chemical composition of bicarbonate of soda. In the 4th Dynasty of the Old Kingdom embalmers began experimenting with natron. Preserving FleshĮmbalmers of the Old Kingdom hadn't yet learned how to preserve the flesh. The hawk headed, Qebsenuef, held the intestines. The dog headed jar, Duamutef, held the stomach. These were made in the likeness of Horus's four sons. Egyptians believed thoughts and reason came from the heart. The brain was not considered an important organ and was not preserved. The organs were carefully removed from the body and dried with natron. In later years the liver, lungs, stomach, and intestines were placed in canopic jars. In the chest were the remains of Queen Hetepheres's stomach and other organs. In her tomb a chest with compartments was found. The brain was removed through the nose with an iron hook. All the major organs were taken out except the heart and the kidneys.

First the body was cut open and the organs were removed. Removing the Organsĭuring the Fourth Dynasty Queen Hetepheres was the first royal Egyptian believed to have her organs dried out and preserved. The procedure involved cleaning the body inside and out. This procedure was a way of preserving the body for the afterlife. Later rich Egyptians were mummified after death. Their bodies dried out and remained whole. The first Egyptian mummies were bodies of people who had been buried in the desert. His job was to prepare the bodies of the dead to be received by Osiris.

He had a human body and the head of a jackal.

Drying out and covering body with natron ancient egypt