Mummification why its important

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Live TV. This Day In History. History Vault. What are mummies? Egyptian Mummies No matter how a body was mummified, the end game was the preservation of as much skin tissue as possible—and the priests of ancient Egypt are considered the experts on the process. The mummification process for royalty and the wealthy often included: washing the body removing all organs except the heart and placing them in jars packing the body and organs in salt to remove moisture embalming the body with resins and essential oils such as myrrh, cassia, juniper oil and cedar oil wrapping the embalmed corpse in several layers of linen Recommended for you.

History of the Mummy. Holey Mummies. Making Mummies. Mummy Mania. Vampire History Vampires are evil mythological beings who roam the world at night searching for people whose blood they feed upon. History of Witches Witches were perceived as evil beings by early Christians in Europe, inspiring the iconic Halloween figure.

How Inca Mummies Ruled Over the Living The Inca civilization, like other ancient Andean groups, practiced artificial mummification as a way of honoring their ancestors and preserving the connection between present and past. Zombies The zombie, often portrayed as an undead, flesh-eating, decaying corpse, has enjoyed a popularity surge in recent years. But that's not to say corpse preservation is, well, dead. Mummification wasn't limited to Eqypt, and, in some ways, the tradition also has transcended time.

Modern-day people in Papua New Guinea still mummify the deceased. Beyond that, funeral homes in the West often embalm dead bodies to slow decomposition and allow time for ceremonies to take place. Even anatomical laboratories are known to use techniques that preserve bodies for medical purposes and education. Register or Log In. The Magazine Shop. Login Register Stay Curious Subscribe. Planet Earth. Ancient Egyptian mummy showcased as tourist attraction among other older artifacts near Cairo, Egypt.

Newsletter Sign up for our email newsletter for the latest science news. Sign Up. Egyptians believed that the only way to do this was if the body was recognisable. This is why they spent so long on the process of mummification and why Pharoahs began the building of their tombs during their lifetimes. Anubis Mask. The brain was typically removed using a curved metal implement that was inserted through the nostrils, while the other organs were removed by hand after an incision was made along the stomach.

The empty cavity was filled with a variety of aromatic spices, such as myrrh and cassia made from the bark of evergreen trees , before the body was stitched up. The deceased was then covered in salt for 70 days to remove all moisture. After 70 days had passed, the body was washed and wrapped in linen. A sticky resin was applied to make sure the bandages adhered to the body. Macaulay, Related: Photos: The amazing mummies of Peru and Egypt. A few hundred years later, Greek historian Diodorus Siculus lived 30 — 90 B.

In his book, " Library of History ," Siculus noted that the men who performed the mummification, called embalmers, were skilled artisans who learned the skill as a family business. He wrote that embalmers were "considered worthy of every honor and consideration, associating with the priests and even coming and going in the temples without hindrance.

Egyptian mummification gradually faded out in the fourth century, when Rome ruled Egypt. Today, except for very rare instances , mummification is a lost art. Most societies consider it bizarre or archaic; a leftover from a bygone time. But echoes of the process can nonetheless be seen in modern funeral homes where embalming the dead plays a role in honoring our loved ones. Tom Garlinghouse is a journalist specializing in general science stories.

He has a Ph. He is also a novelist whose first novel Mind Fields , was recently published by Open-Books. Live Science.