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| Egypt Flights Home » Egyptian Mythology » Egyptian burial rituals and protocol |
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Egyptian burial rituals and protocol |
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The ancient Egyptian culture is an interesting subject that attracts many historian and archaeologists from around the world. The ancient Egyptians used to preserve the body of the deceased by forming a mummy. The Egyptian burial rituals and protocols is an elaborate process with each step and are of a special significance.
The ancient Egyptians believed in life after death. So they used to preserve the dead body to ensure immortality. There are several Egyptian burial rituals and protocol that include:
- mummification
- casting of magic spells
- burial with specific grave items that the Egyptian thought to be necessary even after death
Reason behind Egyptian burial ritual and protocol: The main goal for mummification was to preserve the body and soul after death. The Egyptian burial rituals and protocol further ensured that there was no decay of the body even after it was buried in a tomb. However, only the kings and the elite class members could afford the elaborate service of the Egyptian burial rituals and mummification.
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Burial items: When a dead person was buried he was provided with several burial goods that were thought to be necessary after death. Everyday objects along with food and water were offered as burial goods. Pharaohs were offered costly jewelries, money, furniture and other costly items too.
Practice of Egyptian burial rituals and protocol: There are no written records stating the actual way for mummification. However, scholars after doing extensive research and reading the description of Herodotus, have deduced a probable process of mummification. The body is laid on a flat board and the abdomen is cut with a slit. Sometimes, this process was done by a priest.
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The priest used to wear a mask of jackal that represented Anubis. Anubis is considered to be the Egyptian god for mummification. The body was washed with palm wine. The internal organs of the body were all taken out and mummified in a canopic jar. Heart was left intact; it was thought to be the center of life. The body was dehydrated with few chemicals and then wrapped in several layers of linen. Funerary literatures were also offered to some mummies that contained instructions about how to navigate in afterlife. The whole procedure took 70 days. The mummified body was then handed over to the family members.
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