How is Mummification made?

Mummies were found on all continents on earth. More than one million animal mummies have been found in Egypt alone. The oldest known mummy, created naturally, belongs to a human head. This mummy, discovered in South America in 1936, is thought to be 6000 years old. The oldest mummy, deliberately mummified, was found in Chile. This mummy is estimated to be about 7000 years old.

The oldest of the mummies in Egypt were formed naturally. In ancient Egypt, after people died, they were buried in graves in the desert sands. Desert sands, which are very hot and dry, cause the water to move away from the corpses, thus preventing decay and creating mummies. How to deliberate mummies in ancient Egypt started to be better understood thanks to scientific studies conducted since the early 1900s.

The most important stage of mummification is the removal of internal organs from the corpse and washing of the body with various spices and palm wine to prevent rotting. Then, using natron (aqueous sodium carbonate), the purified body and skin are purified from water. After the internal organs are dehydrated, they are either placed inside the body or stored in separate containers. This first stage of mummification takes about 40 days. After the water is removed from the corpse, the mummy is wrapped in linen fabrics and covered with resin to prevent contact with moist air. Thus, microorganisms are prevented from rotting the dead.