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Mummification was a practice that the ancient Egyptians adopted because they believed that the body needed to be preserved in order for the dead to be reborn in the afterlife. [15] Initially, Egyptians thought that like Ra , their physical bodies, or Khat, would reawaken after they completed their journey through the underworld. [ 16 ]
Although no writing survived from the Predynastic period in Egypt (c. 6000 – 3150 BCE), scholars believe the importance of the physical body and its preservation originated during that time. This likely explains why people of that time did not follow the common practice of cremation among neighboring cultures, but rather buried the dead.
Because the state of the body was tied so closely with the quality of the afterlife, by the time of the Middle Kingdom, not only were the burial chambers painted with depictions of favourite pastimes and great accomplishments of the dead, but there were also small figurines of servants, slaves, and guards (and, in some cases beloved pets ...
The archaeological team discovered a long bronze sword decorated with the engravings of Ramesses II, one of Egypt’s more notable pharaohs from the 1200s BC, along with additional weapons, tools ...
Sometime during the 20th or 21st Dynasty, Amenhotep's original tomb was either robbed or deemed insecure and emptied and his body was moved for safety, probably more than once. It was found in the Deir el-Bahri Cache, hidden with the mummies of numerous New Kingdom kings and nobles in or after the late 22nd dynasty above the Mortuary Temple of ...
Ka statues were usually carved from wood or stone and sometimes painted in the likeness of the owner to reinforce the spiritual connection and preserve the person's memory for eternity. Many ka statues were placed in a purpose-built mortuary chapel, or niche, which could be covered with appropriate inscriptions. [ 2 ]
Very few masks of precious metal have been preserved to the present day, because the tombs of most Ancient Egyptian dignitaries were looted in ancient times" said Hussein. [ 45 ] [ 46 ] In July 2018, archaeologists led by Zeinab Hashish announced the discovery of a 2.000-year-old 30-ton black granite sarcophagus in Alexandria .
In the opinion of James E. Harris and Kent Weeks, who undertook the forensic examination at the time the X-rays were taken, his mummy is the worst preserved of all the royal mummies held at the Egyptian Museum, and they noted that a "foul, oily smell filled the room the moment the case in which his body was exhibited was opened," which is ...