It is said that there is nothing certain in life, except death and taxes. In the western world, we seem to have a grim view of the concept of death. It is something that will happen to all of us, no one likes to discuss, and we all avoid it as much as possible – surely, the same could be said about taxes. But, this is not a paper about taxation in Ancient Egypt. Instead, this is a brief survey of the cosmology and material culture regarding death, and particularly mummification, in ancient Egypt. While the rule of Egypt spans well over 4,000 years, this article will narrow its focus to the time period of what is more commonly known as the Old Kingdom, circa 2750-2250 B.C.
It was during this time that the process of mummification became more common – and was more or less perfected in Egypt – and the great pyramids were erected to house the passing kings of that era. It was during this time that much of the popularized cosmology surrounding death and preparations for the afterlife came about. It is important to note that during this time, the funerary customs, artifacts, and features were mainly reserved for royalty and noble people. It was not until later that mummification became more inclusive of lower levels of society. In this light, most of this paper deals with the funerary customs of the kings in the Old Kingdom – although some effort is made to expand on the concepts as they were later adopted by more mainstream society; particularly as it pertains to the material culture and processes or mummification.
Cosmology of Death
Ancient Egypt left behind a lot of artifacts, and features relating to death. But this does not mean that the ancient Egyptians were a culture of gloom and doom. Quite the contrary. It is more widely accepted amongst Egyptologists that the people of ancient Egypt loved life so much that they went through all the trouble of preparing for their passage to the next world so as to ensure an infinite continuation of that life. The ancient Egyptians saw life as a gift that was definitely well worth preserving. (Carnegie Museum Of Natural History)
The preparations for the actual event of death began with something much simpler than a pyramid or a mummy. The preparations began in life – to be exact, a life well lived. In ancient Egypt, the definition of a live well lived, was a life that was lived in accordance to the tenets of order such as fairness, dedication, and respect for others and their property. The concept of order and justice was associated with the goddess Ma’at. Ma’at was the daughter of the creators Nut (representing the sky) and Geb (representing the earth). So, in a sense, to live a life well lived, one would have lived a life that was in favor of order, as opposed to one in favor of chaos. The concept of order versus chaos was one that was carried to the highest offices of the cosmological realm. It was the gods who kept the cosmos in order, while keeping the forces of chaos at bay. On the plane of the living, it was the king – the conduit of the gods – who kept order amongst his people, and therefore, it was also up to the people to help to maintain that order. In essentially uniting the whole of existence in the fight against disorder, it made for a much stronger society.
In Egyptian cosmology, the East was associated with the land of the living, and the West was associated with the land of the dead. This came about partly because every morning the people would see the birth of the day with the sun rising in the eastern skies, and the end of the day with the sun setting in the west. So important was this interpretation of the carnal points of the compass, that in ancient Egypt, people typically lived on the eastern banks of the Nile, and they prepared and buried their dead on the west banks of the river. So it was, that at the point of death, the deceased would begin his or her journey by crossing the Nile towards the west bank, to be prepared for the ultimate journey to the afterlife. As was mentioned in the introduction, during the period of the old kingdom, mummification was almost exclusively a custom for kings and noble people. As a result, not much is known about burial customs for the masses. But, even when mummification and burial rituals did become more inclusive, a lot of the same customs held true.
The mummification of the body was important because it allowed the deceased to continue living in the afterlife. It was believed that if the body was not preserved, and lowed to decay, that the individual would no be able to continue in the afterlife, and therefore completely cease to exist. The cosmology of the mummification ritual centers on Anubis the god of embalming. Anubis is the son of Osiris – the god of the underworld. At one point in the history of the Egyptian gods, Osiris’ brother, Set, killed him and cut the body into pieces which he cast all over Egypt. Osiris’ wife, Isis, and his brother’s wife, Nephthys, found all the pieces with the help of Anubis. Anubis was particularly suited to the task since he had the head of a Jackal, and was therefore quite adept at utilizing his canine skills to find the pieces of his father. Once they had all the pieces, it was Anubis that devised the procedure for the mummification of his father’s body. Once the ritual was complete, his father was resurrected in the afterlife and became the ruler of the underworld. (Anubis) It was the rituals and procedures that Anubis had used on his father that were to become the foundation for the rituals and procedures for Egypt’s dead for centuries to come. It was the embalming priests that practiced and perfected the rituals, preparing the bodies for the journey into the afterlife. During the mummification procedure, it was particularly important to keep the heart intact. According to the sacred texts in the Book of the Dead, the heart was the organ with which all of the wisdom was housed. It was with the heart that one felt, thought, and acted. The brain, in contrast, was thought of as little more than an organ that produced mucus.
Once the body had gone through the preparation ritual and placed in its sarcophagus (a casket that had more or less the shape of the body, including a painted depiction of the adorned head), it was taken to the site of the tomb. By this time, the tomb had been filled with all the comforts of home that would carry on to the next life. In ancient Egypt, you really did take it with you. The accoutrements for the next world would not only include material goods, but representations of servants as well – specifics of exactly what was included will come later on. It is worthy of note though, that in periods prior to the Old Kingdom, when a king died, his servants would actually be killed and buried with him. One can only assume that this would not have been a very popular practice, especially as the king neared expiration – not to mention that more than one king upon succession may have found himself remarking, “You know, good help is really hard to find these days.”
The final ritual before the sealing of the tomb was the ritual of the opening of the mouth. In performing this ritual, the priest would use a stick-like instrument and touch it the mouth of the mummy. In doing so, the priest was opening up the senses of the deceased in preparation crossing over into the realm of the non-living. Without this ritual, in the next world, the deceased would not be able to eat, drink, speak, taste, or feel. (Death) This type of detail is indicative of the richness of the experience in the afterlife, and how much of a continuation of life it actually was.
Now the mummy was ready, and the sarcophagus was placed in the tomb upright. Once the tomb was sealed, the deceased would begin their journey into the underworld, ushered by none other than Anubis. The god Anubis would bring the deceased to the ordeal of the weighing of the heart. The ordeal was comprised of the deceased announcing his arrival and attesting to the twelve gods presiding over the procedure that he had not sinned against them, and that his heart was free of wickedness and bad will. The deceased would then stand in front of a balance upon which his heart would be placed on one side, and a feather, representing Ma’at, on the other. If the heart weighed heavier than the feather – in essence demonstrating that the individual had not lived a life in balance with the order and justice that he feather represented – Anubis would take the heart and feed it to Am’mit, the devourer of souls. The belief was that if your heart were to be devoured, you would cease to exist. To die in this way while in the afterlife was referred to as the second death. If, however, the heart were found not to weigh heavier than the feather – and thusly attesting to a life well lived in accordance to Ma’at – the deceased would be allowed to proceed into the afterlife. Thoth, the god of wisdom and inventor of hieroglyphs, documented the outcome of the ordeal. The deceased would then be introduced by Horus, god of the sky, to his father, and ruler of the underworld, Osiris. In doing so, Horus would attest that the individual’s soul was worthy of the afterlife and should be allowed a place in the fertile and plentiful Elysian fields of the afterlife. After the equivalent of a nice lunch, provided by Osiris, you would be off to begin your new life in eternity. (Budge, 2001)
Such was the process of life, death, and the afterlife according to the scriptures commonly contained in The Book of the Dead.
Material Culture of Death – Mummification
Perhaps one of the most prevalent features left behind by the ancient Egyptian civilization are the great Pyramids. The great pyramids were essentially massive burial tombs for the kings that had passed on. But perhaps of greater interest, is what was contained in the pyramids themselves, the mummy – unless you were a grave robber, in which case it would have been the mummy’s treasure.
The mummy has been a great source of mystery and wonder for people of all ages for a very long time. Countless stories, and movies have taken the end product of an ancient burial ritual and made it accessible to all. But few of us actually know what the whole process entailed. The wrapping of the body in linens and resting it in a sarcophagus was only part of the whole picture.
The process of mummification was no quick thing. From start to finish, it would take 70 days to properly prepare a mummy by the priests who specialized in the mummification and burial rituals. The first order of business was to remove the brain. In the hierarchy of the major organs of the body, the brain was thought to be least useful. As a result, it was often extracted and discarded. The preferred method of extraction was with a type of iron rod with a hooked end; not unlike a really large crochet needle. The rod was expertly inserted through the nose and into the cranial cavity. From here, the brain was “fished out” with great care to not damage the face. Once the priests could no longer fish any more out, they would fill the cranial cavity with a solution to clean out the rest. It is unclear as to what the solution was, but it was possibly some type of tincture that would liquefy the remaining tissue so that it would be more easily extracted. (Halsall (Ed.))
Once the brain had been dealt with, an incision would be made on the left side of the abdomen to remove the major organs. With great care, the intestines, lungs, stomach and liver would be removed. The organs and body cavity would be cleaned with palm wine and myrrh. The heart was left in place. As previously mentioned the most valuable organ, according to the ancient Egyptians, was the heart. It was in the heart that all the wisdom resided, and all the decisions were made. If the heart were to be damaged during mummification, it would prevent the deceased from having a decent afterlife (if any at all.) Once cleaned, the organs would be placed in canopic jars for storage. These jars would eventually be placed in the tomb with the mummy. The abdomen would be cleaned out and filled with satchels of spices. Then the abdomen would be closed up, in preparation for the next step in the mummification process. The importance of preserving the whole body was paramount if the deceased was to enjoy an afterlife that would be a continuation of the previous life. Also, given all the organs that had to be carefully removed, it is important to realize that the priests would not only have to have been experts in the funerary practices, but also very adept in terms of human anatomy.
The next step in the process was the desiccation of the body to remove all the moisture, thus preventing decay by bacteria. The priests would use salts from the field of salts called natrum. Natrum was essentially a mixture of sea salt and baking soda; a mixture that would not only dry out the tissues, but also absorb a lot of the foul smells associated with corpses in general. (Bucher, 1997) The body would then be covered in natrum on the outside, and filled with natrum packets on the inside. In this mixture, the body would lay for about 35 days. During this time, the mixture dried out and preserved all the tissues, leaving behind skin, bones, teeth, and hair.
Once the 35 days were up, the body was cleaned off, and rubbed with oils prior to beginning the process of wrapping. Amidst prayers and incantations, the body was carefully wrapped in layers of linen. Amulets were placed between layers, and spells would be written on the linen strips for the protection of the deceased. Frankincense and myrrh would be used to perfume the body. (Bucher)
One of the most important amulets was perhaps the scarab, which would be placed over the heart. The scarab beetle was much revered and sought after as part of funerary practices. It was believed that the dung beetle carried a ball of dung back to its lair and would lay its eggs in it, thus providing a source of food for the young. In doing so, it represented a micro version of the cycle of life that played out every day as the sun god, traveled from the East (the realm of the living) to the West (the realm of the non-living.)
In order to prevent unraveling while the mummy was being wrapped, the linens would often be brushed with bitumen (a type of tar), in the place of glue, to make sure that the strips would stay in place. Once the mummy was fully wrapped, it would be covered with a shroud and placed in a wooden coffin, carved in a more or less human shape, with a depiction of an adorned head, with open eyes to signify the fact that the mummy was very much alive in the next world.
While the body was being prepared, so was the tomb that would house it. In the afterlife, the deceased king would need all the comforts of home. Included amongst the artifacts of the tomb were all the essentials such as: boats, furniture, weapons, clothing, and jewelry. Also amongst the artifacts were shabtis. These were depictions of different types of servants and companions to the deceased king would come to life and serve the king in the realm of the non-living. Sometimes, these would be found in the hundreds, and would represent the occupations of the working masses for the king while he was alive. These would include: bakers, farmers, administrative staff, advisers, cooks, etc. In this way, the king, and the hierarchy of society, was retained in the afterlife, ensuring that a sense of order was infinitely maintained.
Once everything was in place, a great procession would lead the king’s sarcophagus to his final resting place in his now furnished tomb. At the point of interment, a few more prayers and incantations would be said out loud, and the final ritual was carried out before sealing the mummy in its tomb – the ritual of the opening of the mouth. By touching the mouth of the mummy with a special implement, the mummy was given life, and given back its ability to use the senses to enjoy the new afterlife. Without this ritual, the mummy in the afterlife would not be able to eat, drink, hear, or feel. (Death) Finally, the mummy’s coffin was placed in its tomb, upright, and the tomb was sealed.
Given the great amounts of artifacts and features that Egyptian culture left behind that pertained to funerary customs, it is easy to see why, on the surface, we would think of them as a culture obsessed with death. But, once we begin to dig a little deeper, and begin to understand the cosmologies behind the material culture, we can appreciate the culture’s love for life, and its desire to continue in the afterlife in a manner that was familiar to them from when they were in the realm of the living. The Egyptian culture of the Old Kingdom was the beginning of a great tradition of the afterlife that pervaded into not just subsequent dynasties, but also into other religions such as Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. Given the complexity and involvement of the funerary customs, it is humbling to know that more than 4000 years ago, knowledge or anatomy, chemistry, and even physics were brought together as tools in the process of preparing for an enjoyable and fruitful afterlife.
