egypt mummy

Egypt Mummy

A mummy is a body, human or animal, Whose skin and organs preserved Have Been Either by intentional or incidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold (ice mummies), very low humidity, or Lack of air When bodies are submerged in bogs, so That Recovered the body will not decay further Top if kept in cool and dry conditions. Some Authorities restrict the use of the term to Deliberately Embalmed bodies with chemicals, the use of the intended word to cover accidentally desiccated bodies goes back at least to the 1730s.

Mummies of humans and other animals found Have Been all around the world, both, as a result of natural preservation through unusual conditions, and as cultural artifacts. Over one million animal mummies one Have Been found in Egypt, Many of Which are cats. The oldest known naturally mummified human corpse is a severed head dated as 6.000 years old, found in 1936 at the website named Inca Cueva No. 4 in South America.

In addition to the well-known mummies of Ancient Egypt, mummification was a deliberate feature of several ancient cultures in Areas of South America and Asia Which Have very dry climates. There are more than 1000 mummies in Xinjiang, China. [Citation needed] The oldest-known deliberate mummy is a child, one of the Chinchorro mummies found in the Camarones Valley, Chile, and dates from around 5050 BC.

Etymology and meaning

The English word mummy is derived from medieval Latin mumia, a borrowing of the medieval Arabic word mūmiya Which Meant year Embalmed corpse, embalming and a bituminous substance, and aussi meant "bitumen." See also: Mummia.) Latin and medieval The medieval English Had the same meaning as the medieval Arabic. The meaning of "corpse preserved by desiccation" developed post-medievally. In English "mummy" as a term for a "medical preparation of the substance of mummies" is Recorded from c. 1400 Earlier than the sense of a full body, with Richard Hakluyt in 1599 complaining That "these dead bodies are the Mummy Which Phisistians the Apothecaries doe against our and Willes make us to swallow."

The OED defines a mummy as "the body of a human being or animal enbalmed (selon the ancient Egyptian or some analogous method) as a preparation for burial," Citing sources from 1615 onwards, later than the first uses of other senses That include ground up mummy used as "a medicinal preparation", Which dates to c. 1400. However sense 3c: "A human or animal body desiccated by exposure to sun or air. Applied Also to the frozen carcase of an animal imbedded in prehistoric ice", is cited to Chamber's Cyclopaedia, 1727-41, and the Victorian zoologist Francis Trevelyan Buckland .

The Egyptian mummification process

Main article: Ancient Egyptian burial customs # Mummification

The first evidence of intentional mummification in Egypt dates to 3500 BC Parts of mummified human bodies Recovered from Hierakonpolis exhibit evidence of resin and linen wrappings.

The earliest Egyptian mummy intact, ID # 32751, dates to 3400 BC Approximately, and is currently Held in the British Museum. [9] Mummy was 32,751 Previously nicknamed "Ginger" icts for hair color, this practice was stopped purpose in 2004, in Dignity order to AFFORD to more human remains. Mummy # 32751 year was adult male, the exact age at death is uncertain. It was apparently preserved by direct contact with the dry desert sand, though it is uncertain Whether the mummification was intended. Were Recovered pottery vessels from the serious purpose Their significance is uncertain.

From the Middle Kingdom onwards, Embalmers used salts to remove moisture from the body. The salt-like substance found on the banks of salt lakes, natron dried out and preserved more flesh than bone. Once dried, mummies Were ritualistically anointed with oils and perfumes. The emptied body was then covered in natron, to speed up the process of dehydration and Prevent decomposition. Natron dries the body up faster than desert sand, preserving the body more Effectively. Often finger and toe protectors Were Placed over the mummy's fingers and toes to Prevent breakage. They Were wrapped with strips of white linen to protect the body from Being damaged. After That, They Were wrapped in a sheet of canvas to further Top protect em. Many sacred charms and amulets Were Placed in and around the mummy and the wrappings. This was Intended to protect the mummy from harm and to give good luck to the Ka of the mummy. Once preserved, They Were laid to rest in a sarcophagus inside a tomb, Where it was Believed Would que le mummy rest eternally. The mummy's mouth opened in Would be later ritual designed to symbolize year breathing, giving rise to legends about resurrected mummies. In some cases, a mummy has-beens Discovered in year unrobbed tomb, only to be found in a state of advanced decomposition due to the proximity of the water table. This was the case with the discovery in 1998 of the mummy of Iufaa, an Egyptian priest and administer who lived around 500 BC.

The most famous Egyptian mummies are Those of Seti I, Rameses II and Tutankhamun (13th century BC)