The Very Interesting Mummification Process
As a huge fan of The Mummy, The Mummy Returns, The Scorpion King, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor and the recent one that came in 2017 which happens to also be my favourite one, The Mummy starring Tom Cruise and Sofia Boutella and an absolutely amazing cast, it should come as no surprise that over the years I grew more curious about the whole process of mummification.
So, why was mummification done in the first place?
The Egyptians believed in the afterlife, they believed that when a person dies they then can live again after death but only if the body was preserved in a lifelike form that the spirit could recognise in order to live forever.
Step by step of the mummification process:
- The embalming process: The first thing they did was take the body to a tent known as the place of purification where they would wash the body with palm wine and use water from the Nile river to rinse it off. The people that would take part in this process was the cutter, embalmer and the scribe. They would treat and wrap the body, in addition to this, it is said that the priests had to step out during the embalming process to take a breather because of the horrible smell from the dead bodies.
- Removing the organs that will decay quite quickly. The brain was the first part of the body to be removed then the rest of the organs.
- Drying the body with natron, which is a type of salt which has great drying properties in it. The body was then placed on a slab and gets stuffed and covered in natron which will dry it out.
- After forty days of the body drying the, it is then washed with water from the Nile again then covered with resins and essential oils such as cedar oil, cassia, juniper oil and myrrh.
- Next was to wrap the body in linen, the fingers and toes were individually wrapped. To secure the linen strips, they used sap or tree resin.
- Once all of the above are done, they would take up to 7 shrouds to cover the mummy and placed in a sarcophagus.
How long did the mummification process take?
The whole process took 70 days!
Which internal organs were taken out?
The lungs, liver, intestines and stomach were taken out. These organs were preserved separately and put into canopic jars.
Which organ did they not take out?
The heart was left in place because it was believed that it was the center of a person's being and intelligence.
How was the brain removed?
A long hook was used to stir up the brain until it was liquefied, then the body was turned face down to allow the brain to ooze out the nostrils.
Humans weren't the only ones mummified, dogs, crocodiles, birds, horses, mongooses, gazelles, hippos, snakes, cats, and monkeys were mummified too. 
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More like SUPER interesting! Thanks for an informative read!