The Mummification Process

Embalming the body

Before a body could be mummified, embalming was needed to help preserve the body. The family of the deceased would send the body to an embalming workshop. The embalmers would put the body in an "ibu" or "place of purification". The body was washed and shaved (besides the facial hair) as an act of ritual purification. The body was then smeared with fragrant palm wine and rinse again with water from River Nile to cleanse the soul. .

A hole is made on the left side of the abdomen of the deceased to remove the internal organs as they are the first to rot and they cause germs to start decomposing the other parts of the body. So it is necessary that the organs must be removed first.

The embalmers also broke a bone behind the nose of some bodies, which enabled them to cut the brain into small pieces and to use a hook to remove it through the nose. They then filled the skull with a thick plant-based resin or with resin-saturated sawdust.
The intestines, stomach, lungs and liver were removed and stored separately in small, hollow canopic jars. Beginning in the 21st Dynasty (1070 BC-945 BC), practices changed and some times the organs were returned into the body. Nevertheless, the canopic jars were still buried with the deceased as a symbol to protect the organs.

The four canopic jars are as follows:

Imesty the human-headed god looks after the liver;

Duamutef the jackal-headed god looks after the stomach;

Hapy the baboon-headed god looks after the lungs;

Qebehsenuef the falcon-headed god looks after the intestines.

The heart however, is not taken out, as the Egyptians believed that the heart (not the brain) was the center of intelligence. They also believed that the heart would be necessary for afterlife. The spirit of the deceased would have his doings and honesty tested in the Weighing of the Hearts, which would decide if he was qualified to enter the paradise and enjoy eternal life with gods. All the organs that have been taken out for separate preservation were all washed and packed in natron (sodium bicarbonate), to dry them out.

Natron packed in the body to dry the interior of the body. The body cavity was cleansed and netjry, incenses, resins and linen were packed into it; netjry was also packed all around it to deflate and desiccate it. This process was probably repeated several times in the cases of nobility and royalty to insure a complete drying. The tools used in the earlier steps would be later buried together with the deceased.

After 40 days, the body was cleaned with the water from River Nile again for the final cleansing. The body was rubbed with palm oil; this helps the skin of the deceased to remain elastic. By this time, the body would be left with skin and bones only. The eye of Horus, known as a wedjat, is associated with healing and protection. A wax or bronze plate with a wedjat carved into it was placed over the embalming incision to magically heal the mummy in the afterlife.
The body would now be shrunken and leathery. The embalmers would proceed to return the dehydrated organs back to the body. They would start stuffing the body cavity and mouth with herbs, leaves, sawdust, stones etc. The body would look more lifelike. Sometimes the embalmers would even stuff onions (small ones) inside the eye sockets. This whole process would take around 70 days. Orifices were sealed with wax to prevent any moisture to reach the interior of the body.
The embalming process is complete, now the body could be wrapped up and laid in its coffin.
Wrapping
Firstly, the embalmers would start to wrap the head and the neck with fine linen. The fingers were then individually wrapped in linen. The mummification process may need up to hundreds of square yard of them. Rich or royal families used great amounts of costly linens to wrapped up their deceased.

The rest of the body was individually mummified. Now the mummy would be wrapped from head to toe in linen. Protective charms and amulets made of different materials (depending on how much the family would pay) were placed on several parts of the mummy to protect it from evils on the way to the underworld and help him live peacefully in the underworld. Below is a brief description of some commonly found amulets:

This is the 'Isis knot' that would protect the body;

This is the plummet amulet that keeps the person balanced in his next life;

This is the headrest amulet; it is believed to support a person's head forever;

This is the heart scarab considered as an amulet. It has spells craved on it to protect the deceased person's heart from being separated from his body on his way to the underworld.

This is the fingers amulet. No exact reason was found for it to be buried with the deceased, but it was believed to represent the embalmers fingers.

As the embalmers wrapped the mummy in layers and layers of linen, a priest would stand nearby and read out spells aloud to protect the deceased on its way to the underworld. Then some twenty or more layers of alternating shrouds and bandages were wrapped around the entire body. Between every few layers of linen a coating of resin was applied as a binding agent. The proper wrapping of a mummy required several hundred square yards of linen. The shrouds were sheets six to nine square feet, and the bandages-strips torn from other sheets were from two to eight inches wide and three to twenty feet long. The linen used in wrapping mummies was for the most part not made especially for shrouds but was old household linen saved for this purpose. Often the linen was marked with the name of the former owner, faded from repeated washings. Occasionally bandages bear short religious texts written in ink.

Both arms and legs were tied together to ensure that they do not get messy in case the coffin got bumped around. A papyrus scroll was place in the hands. The scroll contained spells from the Book Of The Dead that was believed to help the deceased to overcome the various obstacles on the way to the underworld.

More layers of linens were added to the mummy, sealing it up. Liquid resin was spread out at each layer to glue the layers together. The mummy would be tightly packed together like a bundle.

After many layers of wrappings, the embalmers would wrap the mummy in a layer of cloth with Osiris, the king of the underworld, painted on it. This is believed to let Osiris know that the deceased would respect him, therefore raising his chances to get a better life in the underworld.

This is the largest and final layer for the mummy's wrappings. Strips of linen run from top to bottom, side to side to hold the mummy tightly together. Sometimes, a rigid cartonnage cage is used instead.
Sometimes, a facemask was also used to show how the person looked like when he was alive. Such as this facemask, which belonged to the boy king Tutankhamen, was elaborately craved and designed.
The mummy was then lowered into its coffin. There would be usually more than one coffin; they were all placed inside one another. The final coffin is then put inside a gigantic sarcophagus.