5/13/2024 0 Comments Natron ancient egypt![]() Only the heart was left inside the body as it was thought to contain the Ab aspect of the soul. The internal organs were removed in order to help preserve the corpse but, because it was believed the deceased would still need them, the viscera were placed in canopic jars to be sealed in the tomb. The third, and cheapest, method of embalming was “simply to wash out the intestines and keep the body for seventy days in natron” (Ikram, 54, citing Herodotus II.88). After this treatment, it is returned to the family without further attention. The effect is so powerful that as it leaves the body it brings with it the viscera in a liquid state and, as the flesh has been dissolved by the natron, nothing of the body is left but the skin and bones. The body is then cured in natron for the prescribed number of days, on the last of which the oil is drained off. No incision is made and the intestines are not removed, but oil of cedar is injected with a syringe into the body through the anus which is afterwards stopped up to prevent the liquid from escaping. The second most expensive burial differed from the first in that less care was given to the body. In this condition the body is given back to the family who have a wooden case made, shaped like a human figure, into which it is put. When this period is over, the body is washed and then wrapped from head to foot in linen cut into strips and smeared on the underside with gum, which is commonly used by the Egyptians instead of glue. After that it is filled with pure myrrh, cassia, and every other aromatic substance, excepting frankincense, and sewn up again, after which the body is placed in natron, covered entirely over for seventy days – never longer. Via the nostrils with an iron hook, and what cannot be reached with the hook is washed out with drugs next the flank is opened with a flint knife and the whole contents of the abdomen removed the cavity is then thoroughly cleaned and washed out, firstly with palm wine and again with an infusion of ground spices. The body of the deceased, in the most expensive type of burial, was laid out on a table, and the brain was removed It has desiccating and defatting properties and was the preferred desiccant, although common salt was also used in more economical burials. ![]() It is a mixture of sodium bicarbonate, sodium carbonate, sodium sulphate and sodium chloride that occurs naturally in Egypt, most commonly in the Wadi Natrun some sixty four kilometres northwest of Cairo. The key ingredient in the mummification was natron, or netjry, divine salt. According to Herodotus: “The best and most expensive kind is said to represent, the next best is somewhat inferior and cheaper, while the third is cheapest of all” (II.86). ![]() There were three levels of quality and corresponding price in Egyptian burial and the professional embalmers would offer all three choices to the bereaved. They ask which of the three is required, and the family of the dead, having agreed upon a price, leave the embalmers to their task” (Ikram, 53). The Khat needed to exist in order for the Ka and Ba to recognize itself and so the body had to be preserved as intact as possible.Īfter a person had died, the family would bring the body of the deceased to the embalmers where the professionals “produce specimen models in wood, graded in quality.
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