Existing comment:
Death on the Nile:
Why a Mummy?
The earliest Egyptians buried their dead ni the hot desert sand, which dried out the body, producing a "natural" mummy. As tombs came into use, the dry sand no longer came in contact with the body, so it would begin to decay. With the development of complicated religious beliefs, the Egyptians formed their concepts of life after death. They believed that when a person was born, a double called the ka ("vital spirit") was also born and had identical wants and needs. When a person died, the ba ("soul") was released. Depicted as a human-headed bird, the ba needed to return to the body at night. Through magical spells, the mummy was transformed into an akh, an entity that enabled the dead person to exist in the underworld. To supply the needs of these three spirits, it was essential that a person's body and name be preserved, that a tomb be properly outfitted, and that the necessary mortuary rites be performed. |