Mysterious Mummies
OLd Kingdom Mummifcation
(2686-2181 BC)
Image credit: Access Atlanta
Mummies discovered during the Old Kingdom are characterized by the heavy use of plaster-soaked linen and the first attempts at evisceration. This period also marks the first attempts at artificial mummification in Egyptian history.
Human remains discovered at a site named Saqqara show that early mummification technique’s focused on the external appearance of the body. Linen was than loosely wrapped around the individuals head, torso, limbs and genitalia separately to emphasize the body’s contours (David 1978) . Unfortunately, all this process accomplished was to provide a statue-looking cast for a decomposed skeleton.
Image credit: Wikipedia
The first attempt at evisceration in association with mummification is demonstrated by the presence of canopic jars – containers for the internal organs once removed from the body- found in a tomb belonging to Queen Hetepheres. (Cardin 2015). Although here body was never discovered, the of canopic jars suggests that her body did under go mummification ( David 1978). Archaeologists agree that this practice developed because the Egyptians understood the body became more resilient to decomposition without the internal organs intact.