Mummies

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Recommended: What was the purpose in mummification

"In this occupation certain persons employ themselves regularly and inherit this as a craft." (Herodotus) Just as Herodotus recorded, mummification dates back to early 3rd millennium B.C. It may date back many years, but was not perfected till many years later to what we officially call mummification. (Dunand 27) We call it mummification and the body’s mummies because of the Persian word for bitumen, which is "mummia". The reason for this name is because of the dark skin of mummies, which people mistook for bitumen. Bitumen is a mineral formed for a tar like substance. (Becket 31) One of the main reasons to prepare the body, making it look like bitumen, was for the afterlife. After being prepared, they are still being found this day, and have been a huge attraction of fascination and scientific curiosity. (Becket 29) Mummification, a revealing art, is a way to preserve the human body in various forms and ways through out the world.
What makes a mummy a mummy? If someone found a skeleton or fossil it would not be a mummy. (Funston 2) To qualify a mummy as a mummy, it must have both its skin and bones. If it does not still look life like, then it is not a mummy. (Becket 1-29) Now a mummy was a way of disposing of the body properly. They used to bury the body naked simply with a blanket, and then disposed in a shallow hole at the edge of the desert. (David 58) People soon realized that the sun would dry the body, ceasing the decomposition process. This discovery led to the idea of processing and drying out the body by artificial means. (Becket 29)
Mummies can be found all around in many different countries. Mummification became most popular in 1000 B.C. It carried on through the invasions of the Greeks, foreigners, an...

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Works Cited

"Ancient Egypt: Death and the Afterlife." Ancient Egypt: Death and the Afterlife. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.
Becket, Ron, and Jerry Conlogue. Mummy Dearest: How Two Guys in a Potato Chip Truck Changed the way the Living see the Dead. Guilford, Conn.: Lyons Press, 2005. Print.
David, A. Rosalie. Mysteries of the Mummies: The Story of the Unwrapping of a 2,000- year-old Mummy by a Team of Experts. New York: Scribner, 19791978. Print.
Dunand, Francoise, and Roger Lichtenberg. Mummies: A Voyage Through Eternity. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1994. Print.
"Encyclopedia Smithsonian: Egyptian Mummies." Encyclopedia Smithsonian: Egyptian Mummies. 2012 Web. 15 Apr 2014.
Funston, Sylvia, and Joe Weissmann. Mummies. Toronto: Owl Books, 2000. Print.
Grace, N.B. Mummies Unwrapped! : The Science of Mummy Making. New York: Franklin Watts, 2008. Print.

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