My nine year old daughter loves Egyptian history, and wanted to know.
2006-08-17 17:15:55 · 14 answers · asked by calmflow_21 3 in Social Science ➔ Anthropology
Most of the prior answers are essentially correct - the brain could potentially contribute to increased decomposition of the body and removing it through the nose was the easiest way without having to open the skull.
Not all mummies had their brains removed though - and in many cases it seems not to have affected the preservation of the body too much. There's a story that you can hear the dried up remnants of the brain rattling around in skulls - disgusting, but 9 year olds seem to like that sort of thing :) - but as I've never picked up a mummy and shook it, I can't confirm that story. :)
The brain was either ignored or removed because the Egyptians thought it was essentially a useless organ - the intellect and emotions were thought to reside in the heart, rather than the brain. One of the ways of saying "happy" or "happiness" in Egyptian translates literally as "leaping of the heart." For this reason, the heart was not typically removed from the body, though other organs were. And the brain wasn't saved though other organs were, such as the stomach, lungs, liver, and intestines. By the time of the New Kingdom, we see scenes from the so-called "Book of the Dead" featuring the Weighing of the Heart in which the heart of the deceased is weighed on a balance scale against the feather of ma'at. Ma'at is a fairly complicated concept (whole modern scholarly treatises have been devoted to it, in German no less - that's some fun reading). Anyway, the easiest way to describe ma'at is as a sort of concept of justice/truth/order. If the heart was not heavier than the feather, then the person was allowed to pass on to the afterlife, because this meant that they hadn't committed any terribly bad acts in their life. Interestingly, in most of the painted scenes accompanying this particular chapter of the book of the dead, the scales are, in my experience, never shown with the heart heavier - presumably because you don't want even a hint that your test might not work out right. Nevertheless, if your heart is heavier than the feather, there is a rather hideous monster waiting to devour your heart, thus ending your chances at the afterlife. Some authors tend to equate the heart with most modern concepts of the soul, and I suppose that isn't a bad notion, but the Egyptian concept of the soul, or at least the Egyptian terms that get translated as "soul" are really, really complicated.
2006-08-17 20:32:31 · answer #1 · answered by F 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The Egyptians believed that preserving the body of the deceased would allow the KA or spirit to recognize the body and the person would be able to live forever
But since the brain is a organ with fluid around it. The fluid will cause the body to rot and decompose so the Egyptians needed to remove it in order to keep the body preserved in a recognizable state for the spirit.
And Its a lot easier to break a small bone that separates the nasal cavity and the brain case than it is to bash or cut a hole in the skull of the deceased.
2006-08-18 00:43:06 · answer #2 · answered by starshot_1999 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I believe that they wanted the most delicate way to take out the brain because the egyptians, (like most of us) believe that there is an afterlife. However, the Egyptians believed that they would also need their organs in the afterlife. So they took all the important organs or all of them and put them into sealed jars. You know in the movie, The Mummy? The Cursed mummy, he killed all those who had the golden book, and those who had stolen the jars, remember if you have seen it. He needed the jars to raise his love of long ago...those jars house life to them. That is why they wanted to easily take organs, especially the brain (brain = life and knowledge) because they thought that they would need them later.
2006-08-18 00:24:45 · answer #3 · answered by Lyndsey H 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
"they do it with a hook that they stick up there and squish the brain around, make it mush, then tip it up side down to drain out into a pan. they do it because the egyptians thought that they didn't use their brains, but that their hearts were the most powerful to feeling emotions and using sense and etc" i completely second that.
i saw a movie about a guy who dedicated his body to science and they mummified him. previously, everyone agreed that the brain could be pulled out in tidy little chunks (not very common sense, if you ask me). but when they tried it, it didnt work, so they just kind of scrambled it and dumped it out.
internal organs are the fist things to decay, and i'm sure people in hot climates discovered that very quickly...
2006-08-18 00:38:11 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
actually, she will be finding out really soon because in 6th grade (which i was on last year!) you do a huge report on egypt! its awesome, and yes they do. they do it with a hook that they stick up there and squish the brain around, make it mush, then tip it up side down to drain out into a pan. they do it because the egyptians thought that they didn't use their brains, but that their hearts were the most powerful to feeling emotions and using sense and etc. etc.then they do a million other steps to the mummification. she will enjoy 6th grade!!! i got an A, hopefully she will to!
2006-08-18 00:23:32 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
That's gross.
Are you sure that they really did that? I'm no expert, but used to take quite an interest in ancient egyptians, and as far as I had ever read or heard, they mummified the dead fully intact.
However, I could be wrong.
2006-08-18 08:55:20 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's easier than breaking open the skull,taking the brain out, and then putting the skull back together. Through the nose keeps the skull in one piece
2006-08-18 00:19:50 · answer #7 · answered by red_necksuck 4 · 3⤊ 0⤋
I believe it was to preserve the body intact for the after life.
Have you taken her to see the King Tut exhibit? I thought it was making the rounds again. I originally saw it almost 30 years ago in S.F. and it was magnificient!
2006-08-18 00:24:25 · answer #8 · answered by MadforMAC 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
they wanted to preserve all the organs so that when the pharoahs were to return to earth they'd be able to use them again. the nose was the easiest way to get the brain out without destroying the skull.
2006-08-18 00:20:12 · answer #9 · answered by hellion210 6 · 4⤊ 0⤋
To add to the above answers:
After the brain was removed, the brain cavity was filled with sawdust.
2006-08-18 08:48:24 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋