Egypt Daily Life

Burial Practices Jack Pullen Ancient Egyptian burial practices involved a process called embalming, which stopped the decaying process of the body. First, the Egyptians washed the body with palm wine and Nile water. Next, the organs were removed via a large gash in the side of the body. The body was then stuffed and covered in natron, which is a special kind of salt. Then the body was washed with Nile water again. Finally, the organs and the body were also wrapped in linen. (The British Museum) The Egyptian burial practices involved treating the organs separately from the body. The Egyptians placed the organs in canopic jars, sealed jars that are decorated with a god’s head. They thought that the organs were guarded by different gods. Imsety guarded the liver, Hapy guarded the lungs, Duamutef guarded the stomach, and Qebehsenuef guarded the intestines. The gods “guarded” them forever. (The British Museum) The burial ceremonies for the poor and the wealthy differed greatly. The wealthy, such as the pharaohs, were so rich, that they were buried in grand places or pyramids and their whole family came to the burial ceremony. The poor had very cheap ceremonies, and few family or friends attended. Basically, for a poor man, a hole was dug in the ground and he was laid to rest. (The British Museum) The burial places differed for different dynasties of pharaohs. In earlier times, the pharaohs were buried in pyramids, in later times, they were buried in temples, and finally, they were just buried in isolation, to stop tomb robbers. The pyramids were by far the grandest burial places for a pharaoh. The temples were easily accessible for people to leave religious gifts & sacrifices because the people believed that the pharaoh was their god. The pharaohs buried in isolation were in a more humble burial site, with very little royal decorations.

Citations http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/mummies/story/main.html