Egypt is a mysterious and beautiful country that attracts and surprises, makes you fall in love and frightens at the same time. Legends are made about her, films are made, songs and poems are written. Mummies remain the most majestic mystery to this day.

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We all know about the curse of Tutankhamun or the mummy of Imhotep (who was a great scientist, architect and doctor) thanks to cult films and media publications. But what is a mummy? What is the difference between mummification and embalming? What frightens and impresses the researchers of ancient burials so much? Why were the dead in Egypt subjected to this procedure? We will try to find answers to all these questions.

A mummy is a human corpse treated with special agents, compounds and oils using ancient techniques and methods to maintain optimal conditions in order to stop the development of decomposition in the corpse. The very word "mummy", according to scientists, denotes a special resin, a kind of bitumen, which, according to most researchers, was used to process the body of the deceased.

Mummification is different from embalming in a number of ways. If in the first case the body of the deceased was treated with special drugs and dried, then in the second variant the main task was to stop the processes of tissue decomposition and leave the body as close as possible to that which a person had during his lifetime.

Many specialists from different fields are studying this phenomenon in world culture. This knowledge is of particular value for:

• archaeologists;
• historians;
• physicians;
• anthropologists;
• chemists.

All of them explore different aspects of the same phenomenon (living conditions, social and political processes, chemical compositions substances, analysis of the DNA of the dead, what processes underlie the cremation of a corpse) trying to clarify the dark sides and fill in the blank spots in the question of how the dead were cremated and buried in those days.

How and why did they do it in ancient Egypt

Mummification in ancient Egypt has a religious aspect, which is based on the belief that the pharaoh is of divine origin and his body must be preserved so that the soul can be reborn after death, find its body and recognize it.

It all started with the legend of the goddess Isis and her beloved Osiris, who was killed by Set, and parts of his body were scattered around the world. But the god Anubis (according to legend), with the help of Isis, found them, put them together, treated them with oils, wrapped them in a long cloth and breathed life into the dead body.

It was the belief in divinity, immortality, high social status and wealth that made it possible to mummify their bodies only to the wealthy classes in Egypt at that time. They belonged to:

• pharaohs and their relatives;
• approximate pharaohs (guards, advisers and assistants);
• priests.

Concerning ordinary people, then for a long time there was an opinion that they, in principle, have no soul, therefore they do not need this procedure at all. However, over time, the common population could also mummify their deceased relatives if they had enough funds and opportunities for this.

Researchers of burials and sarcophagi in Ancient Egypt say that in addition to the mummy of the deceased himself, the bodies of girls and wives (who, according to some rites, could be buried alive), stocks of food and drink, money, jewelry, and weapons are also found in the burial. All this only confirms the religious basis of mummification, because the soul was given what it needed for a comfortable stay in the other world.

In addition, animal mummies are also found in burials. Especially often these are cats, which were especially honored in those days, were considered inviolable and lived at temples and palaces.

Mummification: stages and processes

Mummification as a physical phenomenon is a rather complex and long process, the secrets of which were known only to a certain number of people in Ancient Egypt. In order to properly mummify a deceased person, knowledge of the structure of the human body, chemistry, physics and climatic conditions of a certain territory was needed, as well as the conditions necessary to bring the corpse into the desired state.

There are two types of mummification:

• natural (when the human body dries up, and does not decompose under the influence of certain climatic factors);
• artificial mummification (involves the use of special means to achieve the desired effect).

The first option took place when, after death, a human corpse was buried in the sand. It was the sand that absorbed all the moisture from the human body and did not give it the opportunity to decompose. And the constant high temperatures and winds dried the remains naturally.

As for the second option, here you need to more thoroughly understand all the processes and nuances in order to understand the meaning of how the whole process takes place. After death, the body of the deceased was taken to a special room, where the whole ceremony took place, which lasted 70 days. This figure is connected with the interweaving of religion and astronomy in the minds of that time: it is precisely this number of days that the star of Osiris is beyond the horizon and is not visible in the sky.

The most complete and reliable description of the process of cremation of the deceased can be found in the writings of Herodotus. He talks about all the steps and methods.

The first thing they did with the body was a special device (most likely it was an ebonite stick - a prototype of a modern scalpel, they made an incision in the inguinal zone in order to take out the insides). Everything was removed from a person, except for the heart, because it was in him, according to the beliefs of the Egyptians, that the soul lived. The removed parts of the body were washed with water and special compounds, oils and incense (most likely this was done in order to remove the unpleasant odor and destroy harmful organisms, which can start the process of decay).

Each organ (lungs, stomach, liver, intestines) was cleansed, treated with certain oils and infusions, and then immersed in vessels - canopies, where these parts of the body were kept. The lid of each vessel was made in the form of a certain deity, who was responsible for this or that inside.

As for the brain, it was obtained by a special method. With the help of a long hook through the nostrils or a special hole in the nose, they penetrated into the cranium and extracted the contents in parts. Another option - with the help of the same hook, the brain was liquefied (blurred), and then the body was turned over and it was poured through the nostrils.

When the internal organs were removed, the corpse was smeared with salt, oils and soda compounds and left for 40 days to dry. Soda and salt took moisture from the body, oils had a bactericidal effect, and certain spice compounds were used to remove unpleasant odors.

After the allotted time had passed, the remnants of the means used were removed from the body, it was coated with special compounds based on oils and bituminous resin. To give the dried remains a shape and volume, sawdust, sand, salt were placed in the cavity and the holes were sewn up. To make the mummy look like a dead person, they could put on a prepared mask or make up, make an imitation of eyeballs and teeth.

The last step was wrapping the body with bandages or long strips of cloth. They were soaked in resin, which was instead of glue, incense and oils. In order for the human spirit to be able to successfully reincarnate, gold jewelry, coins, pieces of papyrus were placed between the balls of fabric with a prayer for resurrection. Having completed all these stages, the finished mummy was handed over to relatives, who laid it in a sarcophagus (like a modern coffin), made in the form of a man, who was placed in the family tomb.

As you can see, the process of mummification in ancient Egypt was a very long and complex process that took a lot of time and effort, required certain knowledge and skills. The most famous mummies that have survived to this day are the remains of the priest Pa DiIsta, Tutankhamun, Ramses II, Seti I. All of them were carefully studied in order to understand all the nuances of life, the social system.

No matter how many secrets and horror stories surround the mummies of Ancient Egypt, they will attract the eyes and attention of scientists, travelers and hunters for prey.

Each of us has ever heard of mummies, at least at school lessons in the history of ancient Egypt, there is much more about them interesting stories than you can imagine.

The legendary wife of Argentine President Juan Peron died on July 26, 1952, when she was only 33 years old due to cancer. After her death, her remains were preserved so that they could be displayed during the funeral procession.

Three years later, anti-Peronist militants stole her mummified body, which was subsequently unknown for 15 years. later, her body, already in a very bad condition, was returned to her ex-husband, who paraded her in his own home, and his second wife supposedly combed her hair and even lay down next to her in a coffin to absorb her greatness. Later, her body was interred and she now rests in her family's crypt.

La Doncella

This impeccably preserved mummy of a 15-year-old Inca girl was probably sacrificed over 500 years ago. She was discovered in 1999 along with two other children on the Llullaillaco volcano at an altitude of 6,700 meters above sea level in Argentina. While the girl looks like a victim of tragedy, there is evidence that she suffered from a deadly disease similar to tuberculosis, or a chronic lung infection. Her family did everything possible to ensure that the girl passed away less painfully, grain liquor was found in her system, and coca leaves were found in her mouth.

wet mummy

In 2011, Chinese construction workers were digging the foundations for a new road when they discovered in the ground the perfectly preserved mummy of a woman who lived about 600 years ago during the Ming Dynasty. It got its name due to the fact that it was in damp earth for a long time, and despite the high humidity, it was very well preserved. Her skin was practically not damaged, hair and even eyebrows were preserved on her body.

Precious accessories were also found on her, such as a jade ring and a silver barrette that still held her hair together. Mummification was rarely used in China, which makes this discovery more unique. Archaeologists believe that the mummification of the "wet mummy" was part of a natural process associated with a lack of oxygen in the moisture surrounding the woman's body, for this reason, there were no bacteria in the water that could contribute to the destruction of her body.

The Man from Grauballe

In 1952, several mummified bodies were discovered in a peat bog in Denmark, but the best-preserved guy was called the "Man from Grauballe." He was about 30 years old when he died over 2000 years ago, most likely his death was connected with a sacrificial ritual, judging by the deep wound on his neck. He retained red hair and facial features.

Ramses III

Unlike other mummies made in the era of Ramesses in Egypt, his found remains are proof that he did not die of natural causes, but fell victim to murder. His throat was deeply cut and many historians believe that he was killed by his own sons.

Princess Ukok

The body of Princess Ukok once again proves that tattoos are forever. Despite the fact that she died almost 2,500 years ago, tattoos are perfectly preserved on her withered body. She was about 25 years old when she died, scientists believe that she was a member of the Pazyryk tribe, which lived in the mountains of Siberia. Members of this tribe believed that tattoos would help them find each other in the afterlife.

Tutankhamen of Torquay

After dying of lung cancer, 61-year-old English taxi driver Allan Billis bequeathed his body to science. The body of the Englishman was mummified and he was nicknamed "Tutankhamun of Torquay". Thanks to Dr. Stephen Buckley, Allan Billis's body was the first mummified body in over 1,000 years to mummify using the methods of the ancient Egyptians. Allan's wife commented on this situation saying: "I am the only woman in the country who has a husband's mummy"

Dashi-Dorzho Itigelov

Itigelov spent his life as a Buryat Buddhist lama in best traditions Tibetan Buddhism. He began his spiritual journey at the age of 16 in 1927. Once he told his students that his time to pass into the other world had come, he also asked them to join him in meditation. He passed away peacefully in the middle of his meditation and was soon buried in a pine box, sitting in the lotus position. Since then, he has been exhumed twice, and despite the lack of an act of mummification, analysis of his body showed that he had died within about 36 hours, rather than the actual 100 years.

Mummies of the Franklin Expedition

Hoping to find the Northwest Passage, an expedition of over 100 men set sail for the New World in 1845. No one else heard of this expedition, but five years later, a separate expedition came across the graves of three men, John Torrington, John Hartnell and William Brain, who were buried on Beachy Island in the Canadian Arctic archipelago of Nunavut. In 1984, a group of anthropologists traveled to the icy island to exhume the bodies of the men, which are very well preserved due to the frosty tundra climate. They were able to determine the cause of death for the 138-year-old men, which, despite the bitter cold, was pneumonia and tuberculosis, and scientists were able to determine that each of them had a lethal amount of lead in their bodies, probably from the ship's water distillation system.

woman with petrified fetus

In 1955, a Moroccan woman named Zahra Abutalib was brought to the hospital to deliver her first child. When she was told that she would need to have a caesarean section, she was very frightened of the procedure and fled the hospital. Later, the unborn child died in her womb, and despite this, she refused to remove the dead fetus from her stomach. Almost 50 years later, she again ended up in the hospital, complaining of excruciating pain in her abdomen. Doctors discovered that what they thought was a tumor was the calcified remains of her dead unborn child. This happens extremely rarely, in history there are only about 300 such officially registered cases.

On July 27, 1941, Lenin's body was taken out of the capital. The operation was kept in the strictest confidence. Then the body was again returned to the Mausoleum. It is curious that these are far from the only adventures of Ilyich after his death. Mummification became a special burial ritual many thousands of years ago, but somehow it has survived to this day. At the same time, mummies have always surrounded and are surrounded by many secrets that disturb the minds of both scientists and ordinary people. At the same time, some of the long-dead continue to "travel" around the world, scientists have not yet solved the origin and mystery of the death of others, curses lie on the third, and the fourth did not decompose at all without outside intervention. We present you the most famous mummies of the world and their mysterious stories.

52 a photo via

Vladimir Lenin. Now Lenin's body is in the same place where crowds of tourists still come to see him. But embalmed ashes, unlike Egyptian mummies, require constant care, for which, at the end of 1939, a research laboratory was established at the Mausoleum as part of the USSR Ministry of Health.

The laboratory monitors the temperature and humidity of the atmosphere of the sarcophagus and the body, changes the composition of impregnating solutions, checks the color of the mummy's skin, as well as the volume of the face and hands, and its employees help Ilyich "take a bath."

The work of unusual specialists was shown in the unique film of the NTV television company "Mausoleum".

Tutankhamun. Perhaps the pharaoh is the most famous mummy. Although, according to historians, during his lifetime, Tutankhamun did not stand out among other rulers, it is with his tomb that the story of a terrible curse is connected.

In 1922, the British Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon found Tutankhamen's tomb, untouched by robbers. Archaeologists opened the double coffin, revealing a golden sarcophagus inside. Inside, even the flowers are well preserved, so their discovery was truly unique.

However, the joy quickly passed when a series of accidents hit the research team. Carnarvon died suddenly of pneumonia, followed one by one by Carter's assistants.

Screaming mummies from the Guanajuato Museum. Perhaps one of the most chilling places on earth, the Mexican Museum of Mummies features 111 mummies, which are naturally preserved mummified bodies of people, most of whom died in the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century.

Between 1865 and 1958, there was a law under which relatives paid a tax for the bodies of their relatives to lie in graves in a cemetery. If the amount was not paid, the dead bodies were simply taken out of the stone tombs - and this is how the museum appeared.

Screaming mummies are unusual in that their distorted faces indicate that the person was buried alive.

The man from Grauballe. In the 50s of the last century, archaeologists discovered several mummies in peat bogs. Among the fairly well-preserved bodies, scientists were especially surprised by the mummified body of a young man.

It was easy to see even the features of the face, framed by a mop of red hair.

According to the results of the radiocarbon analysis, it became known that the young man lived in the very first years of our era, and they killed him, sacrificing to the gods.

Mummy of a boy from Greenland. Not far from the northern settlement of Kilakitsoq on the western coast of the island, in 1972, scientists found a family of mummified Eskimo ancestors, whose bodies were preserved due to low temperatures.

Nine people died in Greenland during the Middle Ages. Of particular interest to scientists and curiosity, seasoned with fear, ordinary lovers of such finds were caused by one of the mummies.

The body belonged one year old baby, who, as anthropologists concluded, suffered from Down syndrome. A mummy that looks like a creepy doll makes a lasting impression on visitors to the National Museum of Greenland in Nuuk.

Rosalia Lombardo. A glass coffin with the incorruptible body of a two-year-old girl is located in a small temple in Palermo.

Rosalia died of influenza in 1918. After her death, with the consent of her parents, the doctor gave her an injection, the contents of which are still unknown. Thanks to this, the body did not decompose.

Locals even call the amazingly preserved mummy "sleeping beauty", so "alive" it seems.

Around the church where Rosalia rests, according to the assurances of parishioners and tourists, inexplicable things began to happen forty years ago.

One of the tourists even claimed to have seen the eyes of the "sleeping beauty" open for a moment, then close back. After that, church ministers refused to be alone near the incorruptible body.

Princess Ukok. Although the body of this mummy itself was not preserved in the best way, the curiosity of scientists and enthusiasts is caused by intricately outlined tattoos, perfectly preserved, despite the fact that the princess died more than 2500 years ago.

According to researchers, Ukoka was 25 years old at the time of her death. On her tattoo, you can easily discern the outline of a mythical deer with the horns of a goat and the beak of a griffin.

Archaeologists believe that Princess Ukok was a member of the Pazyryk tribe from the mountains of Siberia, whose representatives were convinced that it was tattoos that helped people find each other in the afterlife.

Ice Man Ötzi. The discovery became the oldest European mummy, whose age was about 5200 years. The body, named Ötzi, was discovered on September 19, 1991 by a couple of German tourists while walking in the Tyrolean Alps.

Like Tutankhamen, the Iceman is credited with the deaths of six people. The first of these was the German tourist Helmut Simon, who decided to spend the 100 thousand dollars received for the find on a second trip to the place of the find, where he was overtaken by death in the form of a snow storm.

Tutankhamun Torquay. Now, few people want to make a mummy out of his body after death, but there are exceptions.

Allan Billis voluntarily decided to have his body mummified, and also approved in advance the broadcast of the process itself on television.

The 61-year-old taxi driver, who died in 2011 of lung cancer, was nicknamed "Tutankhamun of Torquay" by journalists.

Dr. Stephen Buckley mummified Billis' corpse using the same technique used to embalm Tutankhamun. Thus, Allan became the first body in more than 1000 years to be treated in this way.

Tarim mummies. In the desert places of the Tarim Basin in China at the beginning of the 20th century, human remains were found, notable for the fact that they belonged to Europeans.

Presumably, these people passed away in the 17th century BC. Surprisingly, almost all of them had long blond or red hair, which they braided into braids, and they were dressed in raincoats made of felt and leggings with a checkered pattern.

One of the famous Tarim mummies was the so-called Loulan beauty - a young woman about 180 cm tall with blond hair. According to scientists, a woman lived 3800 years ago.

The mummy of a woman can be seen in the museum of the city of Urumqi. Next to her, they found the burial of a 50-year-old man with hair braided into two braids and a three-month-old child with a bottle made from a cow's horn and a nipple made from a sheep's udder.

Xin Zhui. In 1971, the mummy of a wealthy Chinese woman from the Han Dynasty, who died in 168 BC, was found in Changsha, China. at the age of 50.

The body was enclosed in four sarcophagi according to the “matryoshka” principle, and the body itself was in 80 liters of a yellowish liquid, which immediately evaporated.

Thanks to the mysterious filler, the joints of the body retained mobility, and the muscles were elastic. Many different items were found near the deceased, including recipes for her favorite dishes.

Mummies of the Franklin Expedition. In 1845, an expedition led by John Franklin of more than 100 people set off in search of the legendary route to Asia, but two ships simply went missing.

In 1850, the graves of three members of the missing crew were discovered on Beachy Island, after which the search was stopped.

Only in 1984 a group of anthropologists went to the island. Oddly enough, all three bodies are perfectly preserved without any external intervention.

The researchers found traces of pneumonia and tuberculosis, as well as a very large amount of lead, which could have killed the sailors.

Donsella. The surprisingly preserved body of a 15-year-old representative of the Inca tribe was found on the top of the Argentine volcano Llullaillaco, located at an altitude of 6700 meters above sea level.

Together with two other children, the girl was most likely sacrificed, leaving her on top. Scientists have found that during her lifetime, Donsella suffered from a disease similar to tuberculosis.

In those days, such ailments could well lead to death, but the cause of the girl's death was hypothermia.

It is amazing how well the body has been preserved without any special treatments.

Eva Peron. The wife of Argentine President Juan Peron was simply idolized by the inhabitants of the country, but on July 26, 1952, at the age of 33, Evita died of cancer.

It is not surprising that the doctors were instructed to embalm the body of the deceased, so that those who wish could see the beloved even after her death.

In 1955, Evita's body was stolen by her husband's opponents and disappeared for 15 years.

When Peron managed to remarry, Evita's body was returned to him. True, traces made with a blunt object were found on the face of the mummy, and a finger was missing from the hand.

Peron and his new wife, oddly enough, decided to keep Eva's mummy at home. It is even known that the second wife of the president combed Eva's hair every day and sat the corpse behind dinner table. It was even rumored that the woman lay down in the coffin next to the deceased, "hoping to absorb some of Evita's magical energy." Today, the body of the first wife is buried in the family vault.

Khambo Lama Dashi-Dorzho Itigelov. The Buryat monk died in 1927, and on September 11, 2002, his body was exhumed.

The body was buried in a cedar box, covered with salt. Eyewitnesses claim that Itigelov had soft skin without any signs of decay, his nose, ears, and eyes were preserved.

When the metropolitan scientists received parts of his body for research, they were forced to state that the body of the Buddhist lama is still alive ... Science cannot yet explain this phenomenon.

The concept of "mummification" has been known since ancient times. This rite was closely connected with the religious beliefs of the Egyptians about the transition of a person after death to the other world and the eternal life of the soul. It was believed that Egyptian pharaohs are not of human but of divine origin. For them, spacious decorated tombs were built, the most striking examples of which are the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt.

Together with the mummified body of a representative of the dynasty, all the wealth and objects that could be required in the afterlife were placed in the tombs: jewelry, gold, interior items, chariots. One dynasty was buried in one crypt or place. In southern Egypt, near Luxor, there are mass graves and.

Necropolises of ancient Thebes - Valleys of Kings and Queens

The Valley of the Kings, located on the territory of the ancient capital of Egypt, Thebes, is a huge necropolis of the tombs of the representatives of the male half of the pharaonic dynasty. In total, about 80 burials of the kings of Ancient Egypt were discovered in the eastern Valley of the Kings.

The Valley of the Queens, previously called the Valley of the Children, unites a necropolis carved in the eastern part of the ancient capital of Egypt, Thebes, where the remains of the wives of the pharaohs, their children, priests and high-ranking officials are buried. One of the brightest tombs is considered to be carved into the rock tomb. It is generously decorated with images that tell about the life and virtues of the queen, as well as her significance for her husband, Pharaoh Ramses II. Death overtook the queen when she was in her fifth month of pregnancy. Her mummy was transported and stored in Brussels, and the mummified body of an unborn child remained in this tomb of Ancient Egypt.

Ancient Thebes remains one of the most extensive sites of archaeological research, which has not stopped for a single day since the accidental discovery of the tombs and mummies of the pharaohs of Egypt by the scientific Rasul brothers in 1871.

Mummification in ancient Egypt was subjected not only to the bodies of people, but also animals. Mummies of cats were found in the tombs of the pharaohs. They were considered a sacred animal, providing magical protection their owners and houses from evil spirits. They personified beauty, grace and intelligence.

Thanks to the well-known and widely used art of mummification in ancient Egypt, even today you can see the untouched bodies of the rulers of the oldest civilization, their retinue and animals.

Mummies Museum of Ancient Egypt

In Cairo, tourists and researchers are given the opportunity to visit the “Royal Mummies” hall, which presents the bodies of the pharaoh dynasty preserved through the process of embalming: Amenhotep III, Ramses II, Ramses III, Ramses IV, Ramses V, Ramses VI, Seti I, Thutmose I, Thutmose II, Thutmose III, Siptah, Tiye, Merenptah and other members of the royal family. Here you can also see clay vessels with oils and incense, which were used in mummification in ancient Egypt. Surprisingly, their properties and smell have remained unchanged for thousands of years.

The art of ancient Egyptian mummification is also on display at the Egyptian Museum of Barcelona in Spain. The collection of exhibits from the times of Ancient Egypt is complemented by clothing and household items, accessories, statues, scrolls of manuscripts. There are more than 600 of them in total.

The Department of Ancient Egyptian Art at the Ashmolean Museum, UK, houses one of the largest collections of cat mummies.

The vast necropolis where the mummies were found is located in Egypt. The underground tombs kept not only the mummified remains of kings, but also animals. In particular, in Saqqara, they found 24 sarcophagi marked with markings about the burial of bulls. Such customs are connected with the spiritual beliefs of the ancient Egyptians about the sacred nature of certain animals, such as the Apis bull.

How did the ancient Egyptians carry out mummification?

Like most services in ancient Egypt, the quality of mummification directly depended on the financial viability of the deceased. From the bodies of representatives of the dynasty and high dignitaries, the internal organs were removed through small incisions. The holes were filled with an oil mixture. A few days later, the liquid drained.

For low-ranking officials in ancient Egypt, such a procedure during mummification was not available.

After removal internal organs from the body, they were placed in vessels filled with special balms, where they were stored in the same tomb next to. The ancient Egyptians believed that after death the spirit returned to the body of the deceased. And for the subsequent life in another world, he needed all the organs of vital activity. In order to prevent rapid tissue decay and complete mummification, the body was subjected to a drying process. It remained untouched for 40 days. After the removal of all organs, with the exception of the heart, a mixture of sodium compounds was poured into the body to maintain its shape. Its composition was mined on the banks of the Nile. The entire body of the pharaoh, priest or mummified animal was also covered with sodium. Then hairdressers and cosmetologists worked on the body. The embalmers then applied a layer of moisture-resistant resin made from natural substances such as oils, beeswax, and pine resin to the body. Then the mummy was wrapped in bandages. As the final step, a mask was applied to the mummy and placed in a sarcophagus.

The entire process of mummification in ancient Egypt took 70 days.

Mummification in Ancient Egypt was carried out only by priests who possessed certain knowledge and had the appropriate rank. Its implementation required skills in this art form.

The ancient Egyptians hid their method of carrying out mummification, and no record of this has been found in a reliable source. However, scientists figured out what the technology they used looked like. They noted that the sand dries the body and does not allow tissues to decompose, and thus contributes to natural mummification in the arid climate of Egypt. In the Valley of the Kings in Egypt, you can see many simple holes in the sand and rocks. They were found mummies of citizens who could afford such a luxury as their own tomb in ancient Egypt.

Video about mummification in ancient Egypt

In popular culture, the rite of mummification is associated exclusively with ancient Egypt. This is due to the fact that it was the Egyptian mummies that became known to our distant ancestors. But modern historians have found out a more ancient culture that practiced mummification. This is the South American culture of the Andean Chinchorro Indians: here they found mummies dated back to the 9th millennium BC. But still, the attention of modern historians is riveted precisely to the Egyptian mummies - who knows what secrets these well-preserved dead can hide.

In Egypt, mummification originated only in 4500 BC. So the exact date made it possible to find out the excavations of the English expedition, carried out in 1997. Egyptologists attribute the earliest burials of mummies to the so-called Baddarian archaeological culture: at that time, the Egyptians wrapped the limbs and heads of the dead in linen and matting, impregnated with a special composition.

Ancient evidence

The process of classical mummification of antiquity is still not possible for historians to recreate. The fact is that the only evidence of the stages of mummification that has survived today belongs to ancient authors, including such great philosophers as Herodotus, Plutarch and Diodorus. At the time of these travelers, the classic New Kingdom mummification process was already degraded.

storage vessels

All organs removed from the corpse were carefully preserved. They were washed with a special composition, and then placed in vessels with balm, canopies. There were 4 canopic canopies per mummy - their lids were decorated with the heads of the gods: Hapi (baboon), Dumautef (jackal), Quebehsenuf (falcon), Imset (man).

Honey and shell

There were other, more refined ways to embalm the deceased. For example, the body of Alexander the Great was mummified in an unusual "white honey" that never melted. In the early dynastic period, embalmers, on the contrary, resorted to more easy way: the bodies were covered with plaster, on top of which there was an oil painting. Thus, the shell remained, with the ashes inside.

Mummies of the Incas

At the end of 1550, a Spanish official stumbled upon Inca mummies hidden in a secret cave near Peru. Further research revealed other caves: the Indians turned out to have a whole warehouse of mummies - 1365 persons who were once the founders of the main clans of culture.