Saturday, November 7, 2009

Eyptian Mummification

I would like to expand on an older post one of my group members created about mummification and the burial process. I am currently reading the book Death and Burial in Ancient Egypt for my critical book review. Many people focus on the mummification part of ancient Egyptian society; well I would lie to explain to you why ancient Egyptians practiced mummification.

First of all, it is important to know that Egyptians were not obsessed with death they were obsessed with life, and their beliefs in the afterlife showed that. Most funerary beliefs in ancient Egypt are associated with the myth of their god Osiris. Osiris was the first mummy that ever existed, or so the myth says. In pictures he is often depicted like a mummy with his arms crossed over his chest.

A quick version of the myth is that Osiris was the ruler of Egypt and was very beloved by his subjects. His brother, Seth was very jealous and so he created a casket, and tricked Osiris into it. Seth slammed down the lid of the casket and flung it into the Nile. Isis, his wife, went in search and found the casket and brought it back to Egypt. Now, I’m not really sure if he was found dead, or not, because the article doesn’t say.

However, when Isis brought the casket back, Seth opened it, and cut Osiris into pieces and scattered them around the provinces of Egypt. Isis, along with her sister Nepthys, who is also married to Seth, went in search of Osiris’ scattered body parts, and when they gathered them all up, Isis bound his body and then mated with him, which I find rather disturbing.

Isis then became pregnant and gave birth to a son Horus. When Horus was older, he was able to defeat Seth and become King of Egypt, while his father, Osiris became king of the afterlife.

It is this myth that gives birth to Egyptian beliefs in the afterlife, and why they practice mummification.


References

Salima, Ikram. Death and Burial in Ancient Egypt. London: Pearson Education Limited, 2003.

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