SIGNIFICANT BELIEFS: funerary Customs
From the beginning of Egyptian history, there was a belief in the afterlife.There are many beliefs in funerary customs and most of them started with the preparation of the dead. The Egyptians believed that that there was the world after they died. The anibus was a major figure in funerary customs as he helped prepare the soul for the afterlife.
The earliest Egyptians buried the dead in deserts and they quickly realized that they dried out. Over time they created the coffin and made there dead rest in their instead of large pits (The Trustees of the British Museum, 1999). Steps of mummification (see figure 11.3) of a pharaoh: 1.His body is firstly taken to a tent known as the 'ibu' or either the 'place of purification'. It is there that the embalmers rinse the pharaoh's body with nice-smelling palm wine and wash it with the water from the Nile 2. One of the embalmer's men slices a hole large enough to take the organs out on the left side of the body. The Egyptians found it was important to move these as these were the first to decompose. 3. Then it is the liver, lungs, stomach and intestines that are washed and packed in natron which allow them to dry out. The heart does not get taken out of the body as it is the center of feeling and intelligence that the pharaoh will need it in the afterlife. 4. After a long hook pulls the brain through the nose. 5. The body, which is now stuffed and covered in natron will eventually dry out. Then all of the materials used the the embalming process will be buried with the body. 6. The water from the Nile will be used again to cleanse the body.The body then gets oils rubbed into his skin to help it stay elastic. 7.The body's dehydrated organs then go back into the body after being wrapped with linen (The Trustees of the British Museum, 1999). Next the body is stuffed with sawdust, leaves and linen so that it looks lifelike. These are noticeable dry materials. 8. The body if finally encrusted again with good-smelling oils. It is ready to be decorated with gold and jewelry after it is covered in linen . |
©By Gabriel Merga 2014