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Mummification
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Believing that the body of a person was to
live in the afterlife, the ancient Egyptians developed a way of artifically
preserving the body called mummification. It began with cleaning the body, then
all the internal organs were removed and preserved. Next, the body was dried in
a bed of natron salts - a process that took 40 days - and anointed with
perfumes and oils.
The mummy was now ready for wrapping. Yards of
linen strips were used for the process, which could take up to 15 days. The
whole body was finally covered with a shroud held in place by more strips of
linen. From the Middle Kingdom onward, a painted mask was placed on the mummy
when it was ready to be put into the coffin. The whole process took 70 days.
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