The Art and Science of Mummification 



Why were mummies made? The arid climate of Egypt 

 has always been able to preserve bodies buried in the 

 low desert environment beyond the Nile inundation 

 levels. Such are the Predynastic bodies of Egyptians 

 found grouped in prehistoric cemeteries; for example, 

 the woman in the Museum's Predynastic burial group 

 (fig. 6). Such bodies are naturally preserved, often in 

 remarkable condition, because they were entombed in 

 simple graves excavated on the desert outside the culti- 

 vated areas of the valley. There, moisture and humid- 

 ity were low, and the dry sand and gravel plus the heat 

 of the climate enhanced the preservation by drying of 

 the body and any other perishable substances. Because 

 of such natural preservation, no doubt, it was not diffi- 

 cult for the Predynastic Egyptians to think of the body 

 surviving death, and so became convinced that this 

 was part and parcel of survival in the Afterlife. This is 

 demonstrated by the Predynastic practice of placing 

 jars, palettes for cosmetics, tools and weapons, bodily 

 ornaments, and even clothing and mats with the de- 

 ceased in the tomb, and further, by the flexed position 

 of the bodies themselves, suggesting the fetus in the 

 womb and rebirth for the deceased. 



As social stratification began in the late Predynas- 



tic period, leading eventually to political unification of 

 Egypt and the development of an elite class (ca. 3150 

 B.C.), the tombs of the elite became larger and more 

 opulent. As the burial chambers were moved deeper 

 underground for added security, the hot, drying action 

 of the low desert burials was lost, and the bodies of the 

 deceased decayed. This development clearly disturbed 

 the religious sensibility of the Egyptians, and so, the 

 first attempts at preserving the body artificially were 

 made. By the time of the 1st Dynasty pharaohs, ca. 

 3100 B.C., an artificial mummification technique had 

 been evolved. Egyptologist William Flinders Petrie, 

 when excavating the Archaic cemetery at Abydos, 

 found in the tomb of King Djer an artificially mummi- 

 fied arm that had probably been ripped from a woman's 

 body, then stashed in the mudbrick wall of the tomb 

 substructure. On the arm was a handsome bracelet of 

 gold and turquoise, of Dynasty I workmanship. Al- 

 ready, linen wrappings were in use. The location where 

 the arm was found indicates that another venerable 

 tradition of Egypt was well under way — tomb robbing; 

 and the jewelry on the arm provided a motive for the 

 robbers. A few bodies of Ist-llnd Dynasty date from 

 Saqqara indicate that the preservation process in- 

 volved wrapping vast quantities of linen around the 

 limbs of the deceased and molding these to restore the 

 figure's form as it had been in life. This technique re- 



8. Canopic jars in the Field Museum collection, made of limestone. Dynasty XXII. 9i042 



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