Ancient Egyptian funerary practices

Anubis was the ancient Egyptian god associated with mummification and burial rituals. Here, he is shown attending to a mummy.

The ancient Egyptians had an elaborate set of burial customs that they believed were necessary to ensure their immortality after death. These rituals and protocols included mummification, casting of magic spells, and burial with specific grave goods thought to be needed in the afterlife.. The burial process used by the ancient Egyptians evolved throughout time as old customs were discarded and new ones adopted, but several important elements of the process persisted. Although specific details changed over time, the preparation of the body, the magic rituals involved, and the grave goods provided were all essential parts of a proper Egyptian funeral.

Mummification

Main article: Mummy

Keeping the body of an individual intact after death was believed necessary so that the parts of the Egyptian's soul, such as the ba and ka would have a place to live after death. In early periods, and for the poor in all periods, shallow burials in hot sand often brought about natural mummification. When burial in stone tombs became fashionable among the elite, bodies decayed quickly and artificial mummification was found necessary for preservation. Artificial mummification was first used in the Old Kingdom, but not fully developed until the New Kingdom. Mortuary services were available to anyone who could pay for them, although only wealthy members of society could afford more elaborate services. Although no records exist that document the exact process ancient Egyptians used to mummify humans, documents describing the mummification of the sacred Apis bull and the descriptions of Herodotus combined with thorough examination of existing mummies allow scholars to deduce the most likely course of the mummification process.

Old Kingdom mummies are often wrapped in many layers of cloth, and had their internal organs removed. Removal of the internal organs was important for both ritual protection and served a practical purpose as well, since the internal organs decay rapidly. Despite the attention ancient morticians gave them, Old Kingdom bodies are not always well preserved. Mummification technique evolved over the centuries, and by the New Kingdom mummification had been well developed. The basic New Kingdom process involved laying the body on a flat board, and cutting a slit in the abdomen, through which the internal organs could be removed. In an elaborate mummification, this might be performed by a priest wearing a jackal mask to represent Anubis, the deity associated with mummification and the guardian of the Necropolis. Then the body would be washed inside and out with palm wine. The lungs, liver, intestines, and the stomach were removed, mummified separately, and put into canopic jars. The heart was left intact because Egyptians believed this is where the essence of a person resided. Because the ancient Egyptians did not think that the brain was a vital part of the body, the brain would be removed by breaking the thin bone separating the nasal and cranial cavities. This was accomplished by inserting a hooked rod through the nose, stirring the brain until it turned into a liquid, and pouring it out through the nose. The cranial cavity would then be swabbed with linen and hot boiling resin poured into the cavity to seal it. Removing the brain helped people take ancient showers to prevent further decay of the body.

The body cavity and the separate parts might then be washed with palm wine again. The body was then placed in natron, a natural mixture of baking soda and table salt, for about forty days, with packets of natron placed inside the chest cavity. Natron dehydrated the body, which, combined with the high salt concentration, prevented bacterial growth and the decay. The mummy was then wrapped in many layers of linen strips, sealed to the body by tar or resin. Magic amulets were put in the folds and were believed to protect the body from evil spirits and help the soul on its journey through the afterlife. The entire process was completed in seventy days, after which the mummy was delivered to the deceased person's family for burial.

After the New Kingdom, mummification technique declined and less effort was made to preserve many mummies. By the Late Period, the emphasis of mummification was no longer an elaborate seventy day ritual with good preservation technique. More effort was dedicated to prepare an outwardly beautiful mummy with elaborate wrappings and a painted or gilded cartonnage mummy mask. As a result, many Late Period mummies are in a poor state of preservation.

Many mummies were placed in coffins and were covered with hieroglyphics.

Burial rituals and funerary literature

The Book of the Dead was a collection of spells designed to guide the deceased in the afterlife.

After the mummy was prepared, it would need to be re-animated, symbolically, by a priest. The Opening of the Mouth Ceremony was conducted by a priest who would utter a spell and touch the mummy or sarcophagus with a ceremonial adze - a copper or stone blade. This ceremony ensured that the mummy could breathe and speak in the afterlife. In a similar fashion, the priest could utter spells to reanimate the mummy's arms, legs, and other body parts.

In addition to the Opening of the Mouth ceremony, many mummies were provided with some form of funerary literature to take with them to the afterlife. Most funerary literature consists of lists of spells and instructions for navigating the afterlife. During the Old Kingdom, only the pharaoh had access to this material, which scholars refer to as the Pyramid Texts. The Pyramid Texts are a collection of spells to help the pharaoh in the afterlife. The Pharaoh Unas was the first to use this collection of spells, as he and a few subsequent pharaohs had them carved on the walls of their pyramids.

In the First Intermediate Period and in the Middle Kingdom, some of the Pyramid Text spells also are found in burial chambers of high officials and on many coffins, where they begin to evolve into what scholars call the Coffin Texts. In this period, the nobles and many non-royal Egyptians began to have access to funerary literature, which later evolved into the well-known Book of the Dead. By the time of the New Kingdom, any Egyptian who could afford a Book of the dead was able to take along to the afterlife a list of spells and instructions that would ensure safe passage.

Burial goods

A selection of shabti statues

From the earliest periods of Egyptian history, all Egyptians were buried with at least some burial goods which they thought necessary after death. At a minimum, these usually consisted of everyday objects such as bowls, combs, and other trinkets, along with food. Wealthier Egyptians could afford to be buried with jewelery, furniture, and other valuables, which made them targets of tomb robbers. In the early Dynastic Period, tombs were filled with daily life objects, such as furniture, jewelry and other valuables. They also contained many pottery and stone vessels.

As burial customs developed in the Old Kingdom, wealthy citizens were buried in wooden or stone coffins. However, the number of burial goods declined. They were often just a set of copper model copper tools and some vessels. Starting in the First Intermediate period, wooden models became very popular burial goods. These wooden models often depict everyday activities that the deceased expected to continue doing in the afterlife. Also, a type of rectangular coffin became the standard, being brightly painted and often including an offering formula. Objects of daily use were not often included in the tombs during this period. At the end of the Middle Kingdom, new object types were introduced into burials, such as the first shabtis and the first heart scarabs. Now objects of daily use appear in tombs again, often magical items already employed for protecting the living.

In the New Kingdom, some of the old burial customs changed. For example, an anthropoid coffin shape became standardized, and the deceased were provided with a small shabti statue, which the Egyptians believed would perform work for them in the afterlife. Elite burials were often filled with objects of daily use. Under Ramses II. and later all daily life objects disappear from tombs. They most often only contained a selection of items especially made for the burial. Also, in later burials, the numbers of shabti statues increased; in some burials, numbering more than four hundred statues. In addition to these shabti statues, the deceased could be buried with many different types of magical figurines to protect them from harm. Although the types of burial goods changed throughout ancient Egyptian history, their functions to protect the deceased and provide sustenance in the afterlife remained a common purpose.

Funerary Boats are a part of some ancient Egyptian burials.[1] Boats played a major role in religion because they were conceived as the main means by which the gods traveled across the sky and through the netherworld. One type of boat used at funerals was for making pilgrimages to holy sites such as Abydos. A large funerary boat, for example, was found near the pyramid of the Old Kingdom Pharaoh Kheops.

References

• Digital Egypt, an outstanding source of information
• www.cartage.org.lb

• Wolfram Grajetzki: Burial Customs in Ancient Egypt: Life in Death for Rich and Poor. Duckworth: London 2003 ISBN 0715632175
• John Taylor: Death and the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. 2001

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