ok i have this assignment and i needa know how are mummies made?

Question

pretty much self explainetory

Answer 1

Although mummification existed in other cultures, eternal life was the main focus of all Ancient Egyptians, which meant preserving the body forever. The earliest attempts were recorded in 3000 B.C. The technique used during this period was minimal and not yet mastered. As time progressed, the organs were eventually removed and stored in canopic jars, allowing the body to preserve better. It wasn’t until the Middle Kingdom that embalmers used natural salts to remove moisture from the body. This dried it out and preserved more flesh than bone. Once dried, mummies were anointed with oils and perfumes, which was part of their ritual. The 21st Dynasty brought forth its most advanced skills in embalming and the mummification process reached its peak. After going though the process, the mummies were laid to rest inside a tomb. There the mummy would rest forever, or so it was thought.

Answer 2

The earliest description of mummification procedures were written by the historian Herodotus of Halicarnassus. Herodotus visited Egypt around 450 BC and wrote down the mummification process as was told to him by Egyptian priests:

…As much of the brain as possible is extracted through the nostrils with an iron hook, and what the hook cannot reach is dissolved with drugs. Next, the flank is slit open with sharp Ethiopian stone (probably a flake of obsidian) and the entire contents of the abdomen are removed. The cavity is then thoroughly cleansed and washed out, first with palm wine and again with a solution of pounded spices. Then it is filled with pure crushed myrrh, cassia, and all other aromatic substances, except frankincense. The opening is sewn up, and then the body is placed in natron, covered entirely for 70 days, never longer.

The lungs, liver, stomach and intestines of the mummy were dried out and placed into separate "Canopic" jars that would be placed in the tomb with the body The heart, considered by the Egyptians to be the center of thought and soul, was left in the mummy. The brain was considered of little value and discarded.

The natron Herodotus talks about is a substance that draws water out of the body, drying it out. It occurs naturally in parts of Egypt and is a mixture of sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, with small amounts of sodium chloride and sodium sulphate. Once the body was dried out it would no longer be subject to decay from the action of bacteria.

Though Herodotus did not record it, Richard Evershed and Stephen Buckley of the University of Bristol in England used two advanced techniques called gas chromatography and mass spectrometry to test mummy remains and have discovered the Egyptians also used other materials in their work besides natron. These materials acted as antibacterial agents and a watertight seals. The seals would prevent moisture from reentering the body and creating further decay.

Herodotus continues:

When this period, which may not be longer, is ended, the body is washed and then wrapped from head to feet in linen which has been cut into strips and smeared on the underside with gum which is commonly used by the Egyptians in the place of glue. In this condition the body is given back to the family, who have a case of wood made, which is shaped like the human figure, into which it is placed. The case is then sealed and stored in a sepulchral chamber, upright, against the wall.

Not all bodies got the full treatment, Herodotus records. The poor usually got only a shorter and less effective preservation procedure. The technique also changed over time. Early mummies did not have their internal organs removed. Later mumifiers removed the internal organs, preserved them and returned them to the body.

Answer 3

What is a Mummy?
A mummy is simply a human being whose soft tissue has been preserved long after death. Ordinarily, when a person dies, the decomposition process reduces the body to a bare skeleton in a matter of months. The rate of decomposition is dependent on a number of factors, chiefly the nature of the surrounding environment.


An open mummy case reveals mummified remains inside.



In most environments, the first stages of decomposition begin within a few hours. In this initial stage, called autolysis, organs that contain digestive enzymes (the intestines, for example) begin to digest themselves.

http://science.howstuffworks.com/mummy.htm

Answer 4

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mummy#Mummification

Good Luck!!!