Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Mummy and Painted Cartonnage of an Unknown Woman. Museum acquisition by exchange with the
Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1941, OTRS
For the ancient Egyptians, life continued even after death in the afterlife. To them, death was only a
temporary interruption or pause to life. To ensure that the dead had a comfortable afterlife, various
funerary practices, procedures and rituals were carried out, such as mummification and reverence to the
gods. Only the wealthy could afford elaborate funerals and lavish tombs.
2. Egyptians Preserved the Body So the Dead Could Use It in the
Afterlife.
Field Museum diorama of Egyptian mummification process. Image credit: Erika Smith cc2.0
Egyptians preserved the body of the dead so that it could be used it in the afterlife. They believed this
was the only way to be able to have an afterlife. Therefore, mummification was a vital process in
ancient Egyptian funerals. During the earliest times, bodies were simply buried in the desert and its arid
conditions naturally mummified the bodies. When artificial mummification came into use, only the rich
could afford the best process and the poor still had to bury their dead in desert graves. The best method
of mummification took seventy days.
5. The Hearts of the Dead Were Weighed in The Hall of the Two
Truths.
The Weighing of the Heart from the Book of the Dead of Ani. Photographed by the British Museum;
original artist unknown, PD image.
In the afterlife of the deceased, the spirits heart was thought to be weighed in The Hall of the Two
Truths. A feather from the headdress of the goddess Maat (known as Shu, the Feather of Truth and
Justice) was weighed against the heart of the spirit. If the heart was lighter than the feather, then the
spirit could pass on safely. However, if the heart was heavier than the feather, it meant that the spirits
heart was heavy with evil, and so the demon Ammu would devour the spirit. The deceased had to go
through a long journey before passing on to the afterlife.
6. Humans Had a Ka (Life Force).
Ka statue of Hor Awibra Egyptian Museum, Cairo. Main floor gallery 11. Wood: height 170 cm,
width 27 cm. JE 30948 CG 259. By www.heka.co.uk, PD image.
Ancient Egyptians believed that the ka (the life force) of a person would leave the body at death. They
believed that, even after death, the ka needed nourishment from food and drink just as the person had
during life. Therefore, relatives of the dead would place offerings of food for the deceased to consume.
The tombs of the dead also contained artwork of food, which would magically transform into food for
the deceased.
Beliefs and rituals come and go with time. Originally, the belief was that only the pharaoh had a ba and
that the commoners passed on to the dark realm (which was the opposite of life) when they died.
During the earliest times, Egyptian people believed that when the pharaohs died, they ascended to the
sky and lived among the stars.
9. Tomb Images Had a Very Deep Meaning.
Paintings from the tomb of Petosiris at Muzawaka (XIII). Image credit: isawnyu, cc2.0
At first, bodies were simply buried in the desert sand, but later on, tombs were built for the protection
of the dead. These tombs contained many valuables such as riches, texts and images. These have helped
people today to discover a world long gone. Texts consisted of spells, and images consisted of deities
and the daily life of Egyptians, and much more information that is invaluable. The tombs that have
been found today have many images. These tomb images may look like simple paintings, but they have
a much deeper meaning.