Burial Practices of Ancient Egypt Essay - 1322 Words

The funerary rituals introduced by the Egyptians were the most intricate, spiritual rites in their times and, perhaps, even to this day. Their elaborate customs, tombs, and gifts to the dead were representative of their pious, devoted nature. Albeit not all were as imposing as the oldest and still remaining Seven Wonder of the World, the Pyramids of Giza, all were meaningful and sacred. The Egyptians, highly reverent of their dead, adopted ornate, religious burial practices to fit to every member of their society. The grandeur with which Egyptians regarded their funerary customs does not come without explanation. They delighted in tying the occurrences of the natural world with supernatural dogma, and their burial practices exemplified†¦show more content†¦Consequently, mummification became extensively used beginning c. 2750 B.C. to ensure the prolongation of Egyptian afterlife and took approximately 70 days to complete (â€Å"Life in Ancient Egypt†, 1; Evans, 20). Th ree types of mummification were practiced, varying in degree by the nobility of the deceased. In brevity, the general process of embalming began with the extraction of the brain by use of hooks inserted via a nostril, followed by the mining of the abdominal cavity, excluding the heart, and a bathing in palm wine (Mark, 2). The removed entrails were then cleaned, dried, and placed either in canopic jars or wrapped in linen and placed back in the body, as was introduced by Dynasty XXI (Evans, 20). Furhtermore, the corpse’s incised cavity was doused in myrrh, cassia, and other aromatics and then sewn shut. The body then underwent the key method of mummification, a 70 day plunge in natron, a dehydrating and defatting salt compound naturally abundant in Egypt that left the body a mass of mere skin and bones (Mark, 2). To reinstate the body to a more humanly shape, its cavities were filled with sawdust, linens, or resin, and in the final stage were wrapped tightly in various layers of linen. Nestled between layers of linen were often amulets, religious, texts, titles of nobility, or other items of importanceShow MoreRelatedAncient Egypt : Unique And Defining Burial Practices1172 Words   |  5 PagesAncient Egypt is memorialized for its opulent history and culture along with the unique and defining burial practices. Ancient Egyptian religion was a very intricate yet complex way of belief. Egyptian religion was based on the worship and fellowship of many God’s who were believed to have a constant and ever being control of all earthly elements. The legends of these gods were to foretell and explain the influences of the forces they represented. 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Background: Ernesto’s father was a professor of ancient history at the University of Turin, his cousin was the eminent