How to Mummify a Pharaoh

...

3rd step 4th step 5th step 6th step 7th step[pic 33][pic 34][pic 35][pic 36][pic 37]

“…have a friend to do this…” sounds funny in the story; but in reality why would the person who cuts open the body be hurt. And who would agree to do the cut knowing that after this job is done they will be pelted with stones? Did they kill this person or just hurt?[pic 38]

Once the abdominal cavity is empty, fill it with natron, a natural salt found in the delta of the west bank of the Nile. Heap more natron on until he is completely covered. According to ancient papyrus, he should be left for 42 days after which he will almost completely desiccated. Having removed the natron, anoint the head with frankincense and the body with Sacred oil. Pack the skull and abdomen with myrrh and other spices, and cover the incision with a sheet of gold.[pic 39][pic 40][pic 41][pic 42][pic 43][pic 44][pic 45][pic 46]

8th step 9th step 10th step 11th step 12th step 13th step[pic 47][pic 48][pic 49][pic 50][pic 51][pic 52]

That is a lot of time. Where did they keep the body? Smell? dried[pic 53][pic 54]

For extra life-like effect, you can stuff the corpse’s skin with a compound of sawdust, butter and mud. Don’t overdo it though. Queen Henettowey, wife of Pinedjem I, was so overstuffed that when archeologists found her, her face had split open like an old sofa.[pic 55][pic 56]

14th step (optional) Example of unsuccessful attempt. Can easily visualize this.[pic 57][pic 58]

If you thought mummies wrapped in bedsheets were stuff of B-movies, think again: Even pharaohs were usually wound in strips cut from household linens. Pour molten pine resin over the body; in the course of centuries this will turn the flesh black, glassy and rock hard. While the resin’s still tacky, bandage each of the extremities separately; including fingers and toes. Then brush another coat and repeat. (Go easy on the second coat of resin - Tutankhamen stuck to his coffin and had to be chipped out piece by piece.) Amulets can be placed between the layers of bandages; a scarab over the heart is the minimum. The last layers should secure the arms and legs to the body. Your mummy is now ready to be entombed in grand style.[pic 59][pic 60][pic 61][pic 62][pic 63][pic 64][pic 65]

15th step 16th step 17th step 18th step 19th step popular amulets in Ancient Egypt Easy to visualize. [pic 66][pic 67][pic 68][pic 69][pic 70][pic 71]

A note on sarcophagi: careful name-tagging will prevent embarrassing mix-ups later on. A mummy long thought to be a 21st dynasty princess was recently x-rayed and found to be...a pet baboon. [pic 72][pic 73]

20th step I loved this part, it made the essay even more enjoyable to read. I do not want to count the steps of the process anymore and I don’t take it so serious any longer. I just can imagine the faces of the x-ray technicians and archaeologists. I really find this part amusing, I think it’s thanks to the way the author used the punctuation “and found out to be…a pet baboon”.[pic 74]

Hide your mummy well - you’ve got more than just tomb-robbers to worry about. In renaissance Europe, powdered mummy was eaten as a remedy for everything from ulcers to epilepsy (though 17th century writers did complain of a "stink in the mouth."). Later, English manufacturers ground up mummies to use as fertilizer, and one entrepreneur from Maine made wrapping paper from mummy bandages.[pic 75]

21st step[pic 76]

Title

• I expect to read about mummification process. I do not think it is going to be a very pleasant reading as the process involves cutting a body open, removing all internal organs and preserving the body.

• The general public? Movie lovers? Adventure lovers? Not really sure yet. Describe/inform/entertain. By the end of paragraph one I realized that the main purpose is to entertain.

Synopsis

• The process of mummification is the general subject.

• The author used the step-by-step procedure (I counted 21 steps) to describe the process to his readers. It was easy to visualize the unsuccessful attempts reading the examples Goodheart used throughout the essay.

Biography

• Adam Goodheart is a historian and well-known essayist who studied American history and literature at Harvard University.

• He wrote about cultural, political, and historical topics. The author has special interest in linking the past and present in his writing.

• The essay was written May/ June 1995 for Civilization magazine under “Lost Arts” column.

Content

• I would like to learn more about Ancient Egyptians rituals and the process of mummification. I want to know the things to be used and the many things to consider making a perfect one.

• I really think this is a very interesting subject. There is still so much for me to learn about the process of mummification: the steps, meaning of amulets, position of the body etc. I am still curious and cannot understand why Ancient Egyptian kept all organs and discarded the brain? Why the author did not give a little more details on this matter in his essay? I am sure going to research more on mummification ritual and Egyptian history.

Reading

• Starting to read I was prepared to learn more historical facts about the ceremony and the process of mummification. I was imagining more details in the process of making a mummy. I thought it was going to be another boring literature on history with plenty of unknown terms and scientific language. I was surprised to get so interested in the topic in the process of reading. Mummification requires a detailed and deeper understanding of the process. I was left with the impression that the essay is mostly entertaining but at the same time it left me with a desire to learn more about the topic.

• I think the main idea of the essay was to inform curious readers on the purpose of mummification. Ancient Egyptians believed that person’s spirit or ka will return and use the same body (hopefully, if the process was followed right). And that is why it was very important to have the right ingredients, follow the right steps in preservation of