Mummies: Guardians of the Past

Some of the greatest finds in archeology today is the discovery of a mummy. These mummies can be human or animal. Mummies give us a great knowledge of past times and cultures. In this article we will look at some examples and learn some interesting information on these silent guardians of the past.

First, we should know the definition of Mummy. Mummies are the bodies of human or animal that has been preserved to last through time. Dehydration is the main process of mummification. However, some mummies have come about by being frozen.

Mummies were made famous by the ancient Egyptians. These people believed in the afterlife. When someone died, they were mummified so that they would just travel into the afterlife just the way they left this one. The Egyptians were among the most skillful when it came to the mummification process. Egyptian mummies were placed in tombs called pyramids. Everyone was mummified. If a high ranking official in the Egyptian government passed away, then their servants, as well as soldiers to guard and protect them, and pets were also mummified to serve their master in the after life. In fact, when Egyptian rulers were mummified and placed in their tombs, so was there treasure.

Egyptians were not the only culture that practiced mummification. Other cultures such as the Greeks and the Romans also practiced the art of mummification. These people practiced mummification after settling in the lands of Egypt, even before the Alexander the Great invaded the vast Egyptian empire. Not as skilled as the Egyptians, the roman and Greek mummies were poorly embalmed. Unlike the Egyptians Roman and Greek mummies were not placed in tombs. Instead they were often buried in family graves.

There have also been discoveries of mummies in the Andes. The South American people started mummifying their dead by 3000 B.C. The Incas of 1532 A.D. believed that their dead king had become a god. In hopes of keeping his soul alive, they worshipped the mummy of their dead king.

Mummies weren't always embalmed nor have any religious ties. Parts of Northern Europe have discoveries of mummies being found bogs or marshy places. These mummies were most often discovered by people cutting peat for fuel. Some of these bog mummies have been dated as early as 500 B.C. It is believed that such mummies were killed and thrown into the marshes to be forgotten.

In 1991 The worlds oldest mummy was discovered high in the Alps. Dubbed the iceman, he was discovered by two German climbers. Scientists have determined that the iceman died between the years of 3350 and 3300 B.C.. Along with him, over 70 objects were found. Among these objects were clothes, tools, and weapons.

When making a mummy, there are several steps to take. In order to keep the body from rotting, a body needs to be dried out. The Egyptians used a method of drying out the body with Natron. Natron is a natural salt. The purpose of natron is to absorb the water in the body. It also dissolves body fat and acts as a antiseptic. The embalming process took 70 days to be completed. Out of these 70 days, 40 was used for the actual drying process.

Before you could start the drying process, you first need to remove all of the vital organs. The only vital organ that remained was the heart. After all of the vital organs were removed, the body was washed with palm wine, spices and covered with natron. The body would be covered with a liquid resin for preservation. A combination of natron, gum, wax, and cedar oils was rubbed over the body to prevent cracking. To give the body shape it was packed with sand or sawdust. The final stage of the mummification process was the wrapping of linen around the body.