Ancient Egyptian Mummies
QUICK FACTS, DID YOU KNOW?
*The Ancient Egyptians believed in a life after death called the Afterlife or Duat *Internal organs, all but the heart, were removed and placed within Canopic Jars *The bodies were dried for 40 DAYS before wrapping! * Anubis is the God of Mummification, Protector of Tombs and the Deceased |
Contemporary Written Sources
*Herodotus:"…as much as possible of the brain is extracted through the nostrils with an iron hook…next the flank is laid open with a
flint knife and the whole contents of the abdomen are removed; the cavity is then thoroughly washed out…After that it is filled with…
every other aromatic substance….and sown up again, after which the body is place in natrum, covered entirely over, for seventy days.
When this period is over…the body is washed and wrapped from head to foot in linen…In this condition the body is given back to the
family who have a wooden case made, shaped like the human figure, into which it is put."
-Tutankhamun's mummification process however diverges from this source as his body was discovered in a poor mummified
condition when contrasted with Ancient Egyptian standards and Herodotus' account. Whereas Hatshepsut and Ramesses II
bodies were mummified to a much higher standard.
* Great diveregences occurred amongst contemporary Written Sources in relation to Ramesses II as:
-Manetho referred to Ramesses II as Ramesses Miamun or Rapsakes.
-Herodotus, calls Ramesses King Rhampsinitus.
-Diodorus Siculus knew him as Ozymandias.
-Pliny and Tacitus would call Ramessess the Great, King Rhamsesis or Rhamse.
*Ramesses' reign from 1279 BC to 1213 BC for 66 years and 2 months according to Manetho which corresponds with Egypt's
contemporary written sources.
*Contemporary writer, Josephus states that Hatshepsut reigned for twenty-one years and nine months, while Africanus states her
reign lasted twenty-two years, both of whom were quoting Manetho.