Mummified Oranges
YAC Attack 138! Mummification
Mummies are the preserved bodies of dead people and animals.
Sometimes mummification occurs naturally when bodies are preserved in ice or bogs but as early as 5000 BC people began to copy the process deliberately.
Mummies have been found all over the world but it is the ancient Egyptians, devoted to the idea of preparing the dead for an afterlife, who are most well known for their mummy making.
The first step in the long procedure of making a mummy (70 days in total) was to remove the internal organs from the body. The liver, stomach, lungs and intestines were placed in canopic jars. There were four jars in total, each corresponding to a son of the god Horus.
- The liver was kept in the jar of the human headed god called Imset
- The stomach went in the jar with the head of a jackal called Duamutef
- The lungs were put in the jar with the head of a baboon called Hapy
- The intestines were put in a jar with the head of a falcon called Qebehsenuf
The heart was wrapped in bandages and put back inside the body as it was thought to be the most important organ. The brain was removed with a large hook through the nose and then thrown away as the ancient Egyptians thought that it was useless.
ACTIVITY: Find out how more about the mummification process works and try it out by mummifying an orange.
