Egyptian Mummies

To understand Egyptian mummies you have to first know about their religious beliefs. Ancient Egyptians believed in many gods and that when a person died they passed into an ‘afterlife’. The thought that the individual would have a life that was very close to the one that they lived in with everyone else. In order to have that kind of life, their body needed to be preserved and they needed to be buried with all of the possessions that they would take with them on their journey into the afterlife. 

Ancient Egypt had a successful society that lasted over 3,000 years. The priests of ancient Egypt developed ways to preserve or ‘mummify’ a body so that it would last.  They mummified people as well as animals and archeologists have found entire burial chambers just devoted to the burial of mummified cats. While other animals were found, cats were the favorite and most loved pet of the ancient Egyptians.

The process involved to create a mummy properly can take up to 70 days. It is not only a physical procedure but the ancient Egyptians also involved their religious beliefs in the right way to create a mummy. There were various steps to mummification:

1} The body must be purified and washed.
2} All internal organs were removed, however, they left the heart in place.
3} They filled in the body with a kind of stuffing so that it would look normal.
4} They had to ‘dry’ the body out, so they placed it in a naturally found substance called ‘natron’. This was almost like salt and it drew out all of the moisture in the body.
5} In about 40-50 days, they removed the body from natron and then replaced the original stuffing with new stuffing made out of sawdust or linen.
6} The body was then carefully wrapped in layers of linen that covered every area of the body. Some special oils were placed on the body to help in the preservation. A final covering was placed on it called a ‘shroud’
7}The finished mummy was placed in a stone or wooden container called a ‘sarcophagus’

The organs of the body that had been taken out were also mummified and placed in special containers that would be placed in the burial tomb with the body. Both the sarcophagus and the jars containing the body parts were sealed with a black resin.  They left the heart in the body as they thought this was required for part of the test needed to enter the afterlife. The believed the heart was the center of all intelligence and emotion, but they removed the brain, thinking it wasn’t important.

Pharaohs had the most expensive mummification of all people. Since the pharaoh was considered a god they included many gems and amulets in between the layers of linen wrapping. They would also use a special sarcophagus for the pharaoh that was carved and painted in his likeness. Some were decorated with gold. Others, had solid gold decorative masks placed on the head and face that looked like the pharaoh. The pharaoh mummies were placed in special burial places along with many of the expensive items that they would take with them in the afterlife.

Wealthy people would also have similar high quality mummies.  Since it cost a lot of money to create a mummy, they were the only ones that could afford it. Unlike the pharaoh, the burial tombs of the wealthy were usually in group burial grounds.

There were special religious burial rites that had to be performed by the temple priests at each step of the mummification. This was done to help make sure that the person who had passed away would enter the afterlife properly. There were special oils that were used that were purified by the priests, but were also developed over the years to help preserve the body.  Mummies have been discovered that are over 3,000 years old and when they are uncovered some still have hair and skin.

Egyptian Families

Ancient Egyptians placed high value on their family life. They considered their children to be a blessing from the gods and so they took exceptional care of them. All people wanted to have children and they would pray to their gods and goddesses so that they could have more children.

Marriage in ancient Egypt was very different than we have today. For peasant girls, they married at around 12 years old and the boys were just a bit older than the girls when they got married. Girls of higher ranking family had the choice to marry when they were older, but these marriages were usually arranged by the parents of the boy and girl. The parents created a pre-nuptial agreement that included the fact that the new wife would get an allowance paid by her new husband. These contracts also said that anything the wife brought to the marriage would always belong to her, even if the marriage ended. Both husband and wife had the right to own land on their own, but usually the wife let the husband take care of the land. Egyptians allowed divorce, and it was done with a statement in front of witnesses. The wife was given the children and the freedom to remarry if she chose.

Egyptian women had a level of equality to the men, but were expected to obey their husbands and fathers. They participated in business arrangements and in the royal families, were often the real power behind the pharaoh’s decisions. Egyptian wives were well respected and often ran the farms and businesses when their husbands were away. Some were hired in the temples and courts as dancers, musicians and singers.

Egyptian boys learned the craft or trade from their fathers and the girls from their mothers. If they had the money, families sent the boys to school at around the age of 7. There isn’t any evidence showing that the girls were educated in a school situation but there are some that did learn to read and write and occasionally even became doctors. When parents passed away, the land would belong to the sons and the household items and jewelry were given to the daughters. If the family did not have any sons, the daughters would inherit everything.

Although in most families, the mother took care of the children, the wealthy families had servants including nannies and maids. Since women of that rank had the ability to be a priestess, there was a need for someone to take care of the children.

Young girls usually wore their hair in what we would call pigtails, while it was common for the boys to have their heads shaved, except for one lock of long hair that was braided. Men and women both wore a variety of wigs to represent the latest styles. The Egyptian style of clothing seemed to remain the same all through the years, with very little that changed. The type of clothing depended upon how much money the family had. The wealthy families wore linens of a fine texture while those that were poor could only afford a coarsely woven linen. In both the Old Kingdom and the Middle Kingdom, men wore kilts. Younger men wore a shorter version, while older men had a longer kilt. When men worked, they wore a loin cloth. Women of higher ranking wore beaded dresses. During the summer months, most children didn’t wear any clothes at all, due to the extreme heat.

Egyptians enjoyed their entertainment and many participated in the various festivals. The festivals were usually to honor their gods and during these times no one worked. They also loved living near the Nile River and there are quite a few images of people fishing and traveling on boats for relaxation. They created many types of indoor board games as well as outdoor boating and hunting games.

Book of the Dead

The ancient Egyptian ‘Book of the Dead’ is part of the Egyptian religion. It contains all of the information that is needed for the spirit of someone who has died to get through the trials and tests and emerge to their afterlife.  Hieroglyphs and passages have been found on the walls of many burial tombs.

The name ‘Book of the Dead’ was actually given by the European explorers and archeologists due to the fact that all of the passages were found in burial tombs. The true ancient Egyptian name translates to “The Book of Coming Forth by Day”.

Ancient Egyptians believed in magic and the book is actually a collection of magical speeches and prayers that would be used by the person that died. It was designed to help and guide them so that they could pass the spiritual tests and enter the afterlife.

Many of the chapters of the book are written on papyrus paper, but some are also found on coffins, scarabs, tomb walls and even other funeral objects. They include illustrations and pictures that sometimes show the individual person as they make their journey to their afterlife. Pharaohs and wealthy families would have personal inscriptions, but the average middle class family could not usually afford the cost.

The Egyptian civilization lasted 3,000 years and throughout the time there were different versions of the Book of The Dead.  The various spells that were created by the priests depended upon the importance of the gods and goddesses of the time. Around 1500 B.C.E., what is called the Eighteenth Dynasty, they created the version that we see today. At that time, it was normal to include images of their gods.

It is believed that the Book of the Dead is a collection of stories from various traditions. This is because some of the wording in the book is strangely opposite of other wording in the book.

One of the main parts of the Book of the Dead is showing the process that the person who has died must go through. There is a test that must be passed in order to enter the afterlife. The spirit of the person who has passed away enters the Hall of Two Truths. The Egyptian god, Anubis, would be waiting with a scale. There was an ostrich feather on one side of the scale and the god would put the heart of the person that died on the other side. If the feather weighed more than the heart it proved the person led a good life and was allowed to go to the afterlife.

There are other ancient Egyptian gods that appear in the Book of the Dead. Each has their own purpose. One would play the part of a scribe and write all of the details down, while another was there to punish the soul of the person if they didn’t pass the test.

The Egyptian people believed that one of the most important things in life was happiness. Most of the ancient Egyptians seemed to be optimists and so they thought that everyone would pass the test.  Since the Egyptians lived in a culture where everyone had their own social status, they also believed that the poor people would be poor in the afterlife and rich people would have the same rich status.

Those that have studied some of the copies of the Book of the Dead have noticed that, for people other than the pharaohs, it appears that the artists and priests had a standard copy that they wrote on papyrus. The only areas that were blank was the name of the person that had passed away. This would have made it a lot easier to include in a burial tomb because they could make up copies ahead of time and just fill in the name.  One of these copies is on exhibit at the British Museum. It is for someone named Ani, who "the Accounts-Scribe of the Divine Offerings of all the Gods," and the tomb was also for his wife Tutu

Egyptian Science

The ancient Egyptians are famous for many scientific achievements:

• metal working, including working with copper and gold: 
• glass-blowing: 
• knowledge of anatomy and medicine; 
• invention of a calendar; 
• the standardisation of measurement; 
• paper-making from papyrus reeds; 

Metal working

The ancient Egyptians learned how to heat metal ores in order to extract the metals. They were skilled metal-workers, particularly in copper and in gold. The picture below shows workmen pouring molten (gold made liquid through heating) into moulds.

Ancient Egypt Art History

From the earliest times Egyptian art was developed in the service of the king. Ancient Egyptian art was first created to show that the king was a god. The art-forms were first of all worked out by the master craftsmen in the Pharaoh’s court. Their ideas and fashions were then followed carefully by lesser craftsmen who worked for ordinary Egyptians.

Pictures

The earliest work of art that we can give a date to is the Palette of Narmer, who was the first king of the first dynasty, about 3000 B.C. (5000 years ago). This palette shows Narmer’s victories. It is carved with ‘reliefs’ which means that the artist has carved away the slate background to make the pictures stand out.

This early picture does not show any ‘perspective’. That is, it does not show any depth or space (think of a modern painting of a country lane, showing the lane stretching away into the distance – that is perspective).

For the next 3000 years, Egyptian pictures showed little change from this early example. Pictures were either carved in relief on stone or slate, or they were painted on walls. In both cases, the pictures are ‘two dimensional’ showing no depth.

The craftsmen from the 4th dynasty onwards produced wonderful wall paintings, of people’s daily life and the birds and plants that were around them. These paintings are found on the walls of the tombs where the dead were buried. It was hoped that in the life after death, the pleasant life shown in the paintings would continue for the dead person.

The upper picture here shows people trapping birds and the lower picture shows people ploughing. Below is a brightly coloured picture of Geese. Both these paintings were painted on the walls of Egyptian tombs of the Old Kingdom more than 4500 years ago.

In the Middle Kingdom, the same art forms continued: we can see from the picture below a number of features that are common in Egyptian pictures throughout the Old, Middle and New Kingdoms.

• The bodies of the figures are facing us, but their heads are in profile (turned sideways). 
• The body of the Pharaoh, if shown, is always very stiff and formal, as in the Narmer palette, but the bodies of ordinary people are more relaxed and life-like, as in the picture of people ploughing. 
• The Pharaoh is always larger than any other figures in the picture. 
• All the pictures are two-dimensional, without any depth. 

Women In Religion in Ancient Egypt

Women In Religion in Ancient Egypt

The Greek historian and traveller, Heredotus states: “No woman holds priestly office either in the service of the goddess or god, only men are priests in both cases.”

This is not strictly accurate, in fact women, do seem to have been able to hold priestly offices, from the Old Kingdom onwards. While it was not common for women to hold high ranking religious offices, it did occur frequently during various periods in Egyptian history.

During the Old Kingdom a large number of high-class women were priestesses of Hathor, with the priestly rank of hemet netjer. Hemet netjer was the feminine form of a common male priest title called hem netjer, which donated a type of priest within the temple hierarchy. This title seems to be in use until the Middle Kingdom. There were also women who ‘performed wab service for Hathor’ during the Olding Kingdom and received the same payment as male wab priests. The title used was wabet, which is from wab meaning ‘to be pure’; and there are a few cases of wabet priestesses known from the Middle Kingdom.

There is evidence for women who were priestesses of the Goddesses and even gods. Ladies from high society, or simply priests daughters, who inherited their fathers offices, these women seem to have been able to perform the rituals as well as men. During the Old Kingdom, for example, many women from the leading families participated in Divine Cults, particularly Neith and Hathor, though it appears that they could not serve male gods.

Women also made appearances on certain well-defined occasions; for example when the mysteries were enacted, two women played the role of the goddesses Isis and Nephthys. Such occasions have been found depicted in wall relief’s, in a scene in front of the entrance to the propylaeum of the Temple of Abydos. Whether the young women called upon to perform this function were members of the permanent personnel of the temple or they had been invited to play those roles on an occasional basis is uncertain; but is seems likely that they were they former.

The weaving and presentation of cloth was part of the ritual in the cults of the goddess Hathor. An inscription at the temple of Dendera refers to women of priestly rank translated as ‘She who unites with the Red Cloth’. There are several references to a college of Theban temple women; a daughter of the Chief of the Libu tribe, Nebimuemhat, belonged to this priestly college. Other inscriptions mention a priestly position of the ’nurses of Khonsu the Child’, and it seems likely that these nurses were ladies of his hener.

In the 6th century BC, Queen Ahmose Nefertari, attained the exceptional position as Second God’s Servant of Amun, a post that she later exchanged under contract, recorded on a stela at Karnak, for the new title of ‘Wife of the God’ or ‘Adoratrice of the God’. During the 23rd Dynasty, the Chantresses at Karnak held power equal to that of the High Priest. Priestesses of Isis are documented from several sites, Ostia and Beneventum among them, and appear alongside the male priests of the cult

Osorkon III (779-749BC) established his daughter, Shepenwepet I, as a celibate God’s Wife who would live in Thebes and give all her attention to the Karnak temples and cults. She received all the estates and property formally possessed by the High Priest and in religious matters was very like a female Pope, ruling by the Word of Atum.

A further text concerns two girls, Thaues and Taous, whom the Greek text calls the ‘Serapeum Twins’ [1]. From a Greek Papyrus, 163-162BC, discovered at Memphis and now in the British Museum in London (P.Lond. 26). Since the twins writing this petition, were preceded in their positions by twins, this was probably a traditional appointment.

"To King Ptolemy and Queen Cleopatra the sister, gods Philometores, greeting. Thaues and Taous, twins, perform rites in the great Sarapion [2] at Memphis. "

New Kingdom temple scenes depict a class of male and female temple personnel called henuty for men and henutet for women. This word is often translated as meaning ‘servant’. They are depicted in the scene together with male priests and the God’s Wife in rituals. The title does not seem to appear among the elite class of the population and the function of these temple personnel is unknown.

During the Ptolemaic Period, the High Priest of Memphis, who performed the coronation ceremony, held the most important position in the religious hierarchy. His wife also played a prominent part in her role as priestess; she formed part of the body of women whose most senior members acted as the Gods consorts, protectresses and mothers.

God’s Wife of Amun

The Role of God’s Wife of Amun was one of the exceptions where women occupied a priestly role of high office and was to become very important during later Pharonic Periods. In the Old Kingdom, women were often priestesses of Hathor and were significant as the feminine aspect of the creator. The chief Queen represented the main God’s consort when she accompanied the king in various rituals and temple ceremonies.

The prominence and importance of the role of the God’s Wife changes from dynasty to dynasty; during the times when Amun was pre-eminent, the Queen would have enacted the role of his wife, the Goddess Mut. During the 21st Dynasty, the title acquired a different use, and was transferred to the king’s daughter who now became the wife of the chief state god, Amun-Re of Thebes. In the 25th Dynasty, a further political dimension was added to the role, whereby the royal daughter and God’s Wife of Amun adopted, as her successor, the daughter of the next king.

In 1904ACE, at Karnak, a statue of Ankhnesneferibe, daughter of Psammetichus II was discovered, together with a stela, which recorded her adoption as ‘heiress’ by Nictocris, daughter of Psammetichus II; it also describes her enthronement as God’s Wife of Amun. The position of God’s Wife had extensive power, wealth and status attached to it; she also enacted functions which had previously be performed by the male ‘First Prophet’ of Amun.

Ankhnesneferibe was the first woman known to have held the title of ‘First Prophet’, indicating that there was a significant transfer of powers to the God’s Wife and her retinue. This redefined role was to continue for many years; yet this Theban institution of an earthly wife of the God, the Divine Adoratrice, seems to be an isolated case with no parallels in other clergies.

Notes

1. A translation can be found under the title Egypt in the Age of Cleopatra, Cornell University Press, 2000, pg 127-29

2. The Sarapion was a temple to the god Sarapis. The worship of Sarapis was introduced in the hellenistic era, but its origins are disputed in ancient sources and by modern scholars. Sarapis was associated with healing, "miracles," and the Underworld.

Bibliography

David, Rosalie, (2001) Religion And Magic In Ancient Egypt

Lesko, Barbara, (1999) The Great Goddesses of Egypt

Quirke, Stephen (2000) Ancient Egyptian Religion

Robbins, Gay (2001) Women in Ancient Egypt

Sauneron, Serge (2000) The Priests of Ancient Egypt

The Crowns Of Ancient Egypt

The Crowns of Ancient Egypt

In Ancient Egypt there were a number of different crowns that could be worn by the Kings, the Gods and the Royal Women.  The most frequently depicted, and easily recognisable of the crowns worn by the kings of Ancient Egypt were the Red Crown - Deshret (Crown of Lower Egypt), the White Crown - Hedjet (Crown of Upper Egypt) and the Double Crown - Pshent (symbolising the Unification of Upper and Lower Egypt).

According to the ancient Egyptians, and specifically the Book of the Dead, the original wearer of the crowns of Egypt was Osiris:

"Glory be to thee, O Osiris Un-Nefer, thou great god in Abtu (Abydos), King of Eternity, Lord of Everlastingness, God whose existence is millions of years, eldest son of Nut, begotten by Geb, the Ancestor-Chief, Lord of the Crowns of the South and the North, Lord of the High White Crown."

The Crowns of the Kings and gods played a important role in Ancient Egypt, and they were never depicted without one.  Over time the number of crowns and headresses worn by the king grew, with each crown imparting, upon the wearer, specific aspects symbolised by the nature of the crown.

Even though no real crowns of ancient Egypt have survived there is an abundance of examples depicted on statues and reliefs, however their actual size and composition is still uncertain.

Crowns and Headresses of the Pharaoh

The White Crown - Hedjet

(The Bright One - hdt). The crown of Upper Egypt is a tall white conical crown, known from as early as the Pre-Dynastic Period and is depicted on the Narmer Palette, it is associated with the kingship of the two lands. 

Worn by the king to show him as ruler of Upper Egypt.  Nekhbet, the goddess of Nekheb, was depicted as a woman, sometimes with the head of a vulture, wearing the White Crown.

The Red Crown - Deshret

(The Red One - dsrt). The crown of Lower Egypt is a stair like headress suplemented by a wire that ends in a spiral.  This crown is also depiceted on the Narmer Palette and is worn by the king to show him as rule of Lower Egypt.

Wadjet, the goddess of Dep (Buto), was usually depicted as a snake headed woman or as a snake wearing the Red Crown.

The Double Crown - Pschent.

(The Two Powerful Ones - sekhemti) This was the Double Crown of Ancient Egypt and it symbolised the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt, it was worn by the king to show him as a ruler of both Upper and Lower Egypt. 

It was usually adorned by the uraeus, symbolising Wadjet Goddess of Lower Egypt and a vulture representing Nekbet and were known as the Two Ladies.  The earilest examples come from the First Dynasty King Den.

The Blue Crown - Khepresh

(War Crown - hprs).  One of the most common crowns found in Ancient Egypt, it can be first found from the Second Intermediate Period worn by Amenhotep III. 

New Kindom Pharaohs are often shown wearing it in battle, but it was also frequently worn in ceremonies. 

It was a blue helmet like crown adorned with golden sun discs, and like many Egyptain crowns, had a uraeus and vulture on the brow.

The Nemes Crown or Headress

(nws).  This was a striped cloth headress worn almost exclusively by the king in representations.  The most famous example can be seen on Tutankhamun's golden mask.

The brow was decorated with the uraeus Wadjet and the vulture Nekhbet.  It was associated with Re-Khepri at Sunrise and also with Horus, who bestowed it upon Osiris in