How to Make a Mummy

History 1 Minute

NOTE: If you are squeamish, this is NOT the do-it-yourself project for you.

So, let’s say a king or other high-ranking official has died.  The embalmers would slit open the body and remove nearly all the organs.  These would be placed in ceremonial jars called canopic jars.

A few of the important organs, like the heart and the kidneys, were left in place.  The embalmers apparently thought the brain was useless (he’s a king or other official after all…lol) because in most cases, the brain matter was scrambled or shredded with small hooks inserted through the nostrils and pulled out through the nose using tiny spoons.  (The brain was then thrown away.)

Next the embalmers packed the body in oil of cedar (similar to turpentine) and natron, a special mineral with high salt content.  These chemicals slowly dried the body out, a process which took anywhere from 40-70 days.

The body was then completely dried out and “preserved” but that process rendered it shrunken and wrinkled like a prune.  The next step was to stuff the mouth, nose, chest cavities, etc. with sawdust, pottery, cloth and other items to fill it back out and make it look more human.  In many cases, the eyes were removed and replaced with artificial ones.

Then the embalmers doused the body with a waterproofing substance similar to tar, which protected the dried body from any moisture.  (In fact, the word mummy comes from the Persian word mumiai which means pitch or asphalt and was originally used to describe the preservatives themselves, not the corpse that had been preserved.)

Finally, the body was carefully wrapped in narrow strips of linen, and a funerary mask resembling the deceased was placed on the head.  Afterward it was laid in a large coffin that was carved and painted to look like the deceased, and the coffin was placed in a tomb outfitted with the everyday items the deceased would need in the afterlife.

Published by FJB

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147 thoughts on “How to Make a Mummy”

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  3. I am adding a short daily prayer to the board. I would invite each of you, if you wish, to also add one or maybe two of your own liking. I do not want to stifle anyone but please limit yourself to one or two religious postings. here’s one I found that I liked.

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    1. My son Brandon needs prayer again as he’s being pressured by his EMT program to take the “vax” to access a healthcare facility for training. He is planning to file a religious exemption…

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  11. I finally read your original post & part of that process of mummification reminds me of my son Josiah’s Transphenoidal Brain Tumor surgery. His BT was on the pituitary gland & the surgeon went up through one nostril to remove it. Thankfully this meant no disfiguring scarring externally & since he also had a severely deviated septum (multiple cranio-facial anomalies) they used the nostril that was more “closed off” which ultimately meant he could breath a bit easier.

    Now I just need to remember to tell him that that surgery was like experiencing a partial mummification process! Perfect tale for Halloween season 😉

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    1. i started working summers when i was 14 and worked after school and weekends after that and i always had a job…at one point i had a day job and a night and weekend job…

      and my kids? they got jobs at 14 too. we lived a half mile away from a wedding venue–they were busboys and servers on Saturdays. taught them to appreciate money.

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    2. Same as with Pat – I started working as a baby sitter when I was 12; when I was 16 and could drive, I got my first job at the pharmacy. I paid my daughter to help with the horses, too, and she also babysat. For many, many years, the kids around here worked in the fields in the summer – cutting down thistles and de-tasseling the corn. Now? Pffttt!!! They don’t want to work in the fields – they want a cushy inside job where they don’t really have to “work,” per se – at least around here, they can still count change. Now they have machines that do the de-tasseling. Some do yard work – but only cutting grass, where they can sit their ass on a riding mower, not weed eating, mind you! SMDH

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            1. THE biggest thing for me was being able to buy my own clothes! My money, my choice…within modest reason, of course, but still….THAT was when I felt the first stirrings of being an adult and man, did I ever like it! For the first time, a teensy bit of independence!

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