"What is a
mummy, and why do we find
mummies so fascinating?” – the opening line of Perl’s intriguing book gives us a fair idea of what to expect in the coming pages. Early Egyptians buried their dead in shallow graves dug in the sand. Unable to accept the finality of death, they added food and water along with the body. The hope was that somehow, the spirit would live on even after the mortal remains were long gone. The hot, dry sand of the Egyptian desert worked a miracle: it absorbed the body’s moisture, thus preserving it beautifully. This could be said to be the first
mummy ! When these ‘natural’ mummies were discovered, Egyptians set about imitating the
process and looking for ways to improve on it. Mummification became an elaborate royal affair, even for the early Egyptian dynasties.
The process of mummy-making is engrossing in itself. The organs of the body (stomach, intestine, lungs and liver) were first removed and placed in separate jars. Then the brain was
liquefied by stirring with a rod and was drained out through the nostrils. Next, the body was dried out by coating it thickly with a salt called
natron, available in abundance in the Egyptian desert. This process took about forty days. To block the odour of the slowly drying body, it was washed with spices and palm wine. After drying, the abdominal cavity was filled with natron and fresh spices. The body was then rubbed with oil and coated with melted
resin to render it waterproof. Finally, it was wrapped with linen strips. Between the wrappings, precious objects, jewellery, charms etc were placed. The bandages were again covered with resin. The entire process of royal mummification took seventy days!
As the kings of Egypt grew stronger, their burials became more and more lavish. Not satisfied with graves dug in the sand, they
built mud-brick tombs called
mastabas. Far beneath the
tomb, around forty to eighty feet below lay the actual
burial chamber. Since the king’s treasure was buried with him, it was imperative to hide the coffin from tomb robbers. Mastabas gave way to
step- pyramids as the power of the rulers increased. Built of solid stone, these step pyramids were designed to confuse thieves – blind passageways and a maze of secret rooms.
With the rise of the Fourth Dynasty, Egyptian architecture was at the pinnacle of excellence. The magnificent pyramids of
Giza were built in this period. The burial chamber was now hidden within the pyramid, about halfway to the top, rather than underground. But in spite of all the secret shafts and labyrinthine passages, tomb raiders always succeeded in breaking in.
With the last of the pharaohs of the New Kingdom, the sun began to set on the Egyptian Dynasty. Egypt was conquered, first by the Greeks, followed by the Romans and then the Muslims. The Muslims built the city of
Cairo which is at present, the capital of Egypt.
In the year 1000, Europeans began to believe that dried mummies had miraculous curative powers. A horrifying trade was born, wherein mummies were sent to Europe to be
ground up and sold as medicine. This appalling demolition of mummies has caused incalculable loss to mankind. Fortunately, the paintings on the walls of the burial chambers and the hieroglyphic language, decipherable due to the discovery of the Rosetta Stone, still survive, along with the few remaining mummies. These have been helpful in filling the gaps left due to obliterated records of one of history’s most glorious dynasties.
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