What strikes your mind when I say "Mummies"? Well I am not talking about your mom. I am talking about the Egyptians Mummy. We all know about them, right? We do remember them from all those horror movies. But, there is so much more to them than just that, behind those bandages lies facets of an astonishing history.
So how was mummification done? This process was done in 4 steps only.
First: the body organs are taken out except the heart ( cause it should be in the right place) .Also these internal organs were stored in canopic jars.
Second: the body is filled with leaves and herbs so that it doesnt flatten up.
Third: the body is covered in salt so that it is all dehydrated
Fourth:then the priests apply special oils and cover it with straps of linen giving it the famous bandage look.
Why was mummification done?
People believed that after death the soul did leave the body but also returned. Therefore, they started the process of mummification so that the soul could return to its normal body and not be dissatisfied.
They also believed that this would give them a chance to connect to a completely different world. This was mainly done to Pharaohs(Egyptian kings) who were considered as Gods.
Incidentally, mummification was not only done to humans but also to animals like cats, crows ,crocodiles, rats (you name it).
This was because these animals were either prayed as Gods or were someone's precious pets.
Do you know that people also say that these tombs, where mummies were kept, were cursed?
It was because after the mummification of the Pharaohs, researches or excavators came there to collect more information. And the tombs had sometching written on it. For example:
"To all who enter to make evil against this tomb, may the crocodile be against them on water and the snakes and scorpions be against them on land."
People started believing these when Lord Carnarvon, a sponsor of the King Tutankhamun expedition, died. But it wasn't the crocodiles or snakes, but rather a mosquitoe bite.
Published on February 28th, 2019 in Planet Young
©Aaira Goswami, 2020. All rights reserved.