Ancient Egyptian Mummies?

Question

Have you ever seen those Egyptian mummies?
I just saw one one TV, it was a women and her mouth was wide open like she had been screaming.
Wouldn't the people who buried her close her mouth?
Does that mean she totally died in pain?

Answer 1

OMG!!thats sad and sick but i would think so from what u said.what a sad way to go =(

Answer 2

Not really, most mummies will be carefully prepared, but since the oldest egyptian mummies are less than 2000 years old, the technic may of mummification may have downgrade a little, depending on the availability of the ingredients needed and the overall skills of those who were doing it.
They were also period of war, where it was rendered difficult to process such complicated thing.
Anyways, post mortem muscular activities is to be considered here, if the mummy was prepared quite fast (under a week or so), then it could have been possible that the mouth just pop out open later on, when they could not see the face of the mummy.

Answer 3

No. The mummification process in this case was possibly not completed in the proper manner.
When a human dies and comes out of rigor the mouth will open. Usually a mortician glues the lips together and positions the head so that when rigor returns the mouth stays shut.
In the process of ancient Egyptian mummification the brains are removed through the nose, as well as all the other organs excepting the heart, which is left in the body of the deceased. [This was due to their belief that the heart of the 'center' of ones' soul or life. They did not realize that the brain is the 'center of operations for all of the human body]. These organs were then deposited into pots, sealed and entombed with the deceased. Later, the Greeks named these pots 'canopic' jars, after one of their deities, Canopus.

Answer 4

Yup SomeJ is correct, there is a opening of the mouth ceremony.
The Opening of the mouth ceremony (or ritual) was an ancient Egyptian ritual described in funerary texts such as the Pyramid Texts. The ritual involved the symbolic animation of a statue or mummy by pretending to open its mouth so that it could breathe. Sometimes special tools were used to open the mouth. One of these was a sort of adze made from meteoric iron. The Opening of the mouth ceremony was performed so that the person could speak and breathe in the afterlife. There is an evidence of this ritual from the Old Kingdom onwards, and its main purpose was to revive the deceased or deified person. This ritual is recorded up to Roman Period. It involved various complex actions to enable the deceased to accept offerings and participate in cult rituals

Answer 5

The ancient Egyptians would open the mouth of the mummy when they were done with mummifying it. They had a special ceremony for it, called The Opening Of the Mouth. I forget the exact reason, but it had something to do with their afterlife myths.

Answer 6

According to the same show I watched last night, they said she died in that position. I too found it odd that they would not alter the jaw at burial. I think they were stretching dramatic license for rating purposes in regard to that particular mummy. If the blow to the top of her head was the cause of death, to be hit there, it wouldn't necessarily mean she saw the hit coming. It could have come from behind. Would she have time to register pain and scream? Wouldn't the muscles relax after rigor? As much as I enjoy Egyptology I thought they were a bit off on that one.

Answer 7

I just saw that exact mummy on a tv show! I was wondering the same thing.

Answer 8

i seen many at the museum in Egypt ,and trust me there not fun to look at , but that's weired about the mouth part that's so scary ,may be as you said she suffered of pain ,you know those are hidden secrets that or will never be revealed

Answer 9

The mouth is open because the muscles draw up after death.

Answer 10

Somes J is correct.