Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Aidan Cockburn
- Preface to the first edition
- Preface to the second edition
- Introduction
- PART I Mummies of Egypt
- 1 Mummies of ancient Egypt
- 2 Disease in ancient Egypt
- 3 Dental health in ancient Egypt
- 4 A classic mummy: PUM II
- 5 ROM I: mummification for the common people
- 6 Egyptian mummification with evisceration per ano
- PART II Mummies of the Americas
- PART III Mummies of the world
- PART IV Mummies and technology
- Index
1 - Mummies of ancient Egypt
from PART I - Mummies of Egypt
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 February 2015
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of contributors
- Aidan Cockburn
- Preface to the first edition
- Preface to the second edition
- Introduction
- PART I Mummies of Egypt
- 1 Mummies of ancient Egypt
- 2 Disease in ancient Egypt
- 3 Dental health in ancient Egypt
- 4 A classic mummy: PUM II
- 5 ROM I: mummification for the common people
- 6 Egyptian mummification with evisceration per ano
- PART II Mummies of the Americas
- PART III Mummies of the world
- PART IV Mummies and technology
- Index
Summary
In the modern mind no single type of artifact from the ancient world excites more interest than the Egyptian mummy, and no other kind of object is considered more typically Egyptian. The very word mummy brings to mind a host of associated ideas – the Egyptian belief in life after death, the seemingly pervasive concern with the notion of death, and the elaborate preparations that were made for it. It is well to state at the outset that religious beliefs made it necessary to preserve the dead, and what seems a preoccupation with death was actually the outgrowth of a love of life and an attempt to prepare for a continuation in the next world of life as it is known in this.
A considerable literature, much of it of a speculative nature, has grown up around the modern interest in the process of mummification. In recent decades the progress of science has done much to dispel earlier misconceptions, but many of these have become firmly fixed and die hard. The process of mummification is still considered to be a ‘lost art’ by many who would rather remain content with an intriguing mystery than be disappointed with a simple explanation. The process was the result of a continuous development based on trial and error and observable results. The details of technique can now be discussed with some confidence and accuracy.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Mummies, Disease and Ancient Cultures , pp. 15 - 37Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1998
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