Have you ever wondered why Ancient Egyptians build pyramids? Have you ever seen the pyramid that is being printed on the US$1 notes with the wordings, "In God We Trust"?
I never did, until I went to Egypt.!
Ancient Egyptians believe that their soul will rise to the sky upon their death and they will have a 2nd life i.e. after life and this after-life is eternal. However, the prerequisite of having an after-life is a well preserved body that the soul is able to visit every night. Otherwise, (maybe) your soul will vanish into thin air. :(
So, understanding their culture and beliefs is only the first step to understand the various religious practices of ancient Egyptians.
(1) Mummified Body
(2) Pyramids
Mummification keeps the body intact so that the soul will be able to recognize its own body and visit it every night. It involves 4 main processes, mainly immersing the body in some kind of liquid mixture to preserve the body, dehydrating the corpse, followed by the removal of key organs like the lungs, intestines, stomach, and brain, and finally wrapping it up in linen cloth.
Even with our current biotechnology and scientific knowledge, no one is able to figure out the composition of the liquid mixture because it is the key to mummification. Without first preserving the body, all other procedures will not fall in place accordingly. Experiments that have been done thus far suggests that ginger, herbs, some other natural plants that were found in ancient plants are necessary. The process of producing the liquid mixture is a complete mystery that awaits insight.
The removal of key organs involves 2 main steps, first a 10cm cut in the right abdominal to extract the intestines, lungs, and stomach. The second step involves squeezing the brain out through the nose, though I am clueless as to how our nose and brain are connected. Only the biology students can shed some light on this.
** Ever thought of doing something great and impossible? Research on the liquid mixture necessary for mummification and improvise it such that it can be used to preserve live human bodies. You'll make it big.**
Upon preserving the bodies, it is then necessary to bury it. Pyramids are only meant for the royalties since ordinary beings can hardly afford to build one. In addition, the deceased has to be buried together with all its personal belongings in his or her first life thus they often require gigantic tombs. The first ever pyramid that was built are not those of GIZAs but the STEP PYRAMID in Sakkara. Its architect was Imhotep and his rationale of constructing a tomb shaped like a pyramid is so that the coffin can be placed right in the centre of the pyramid since the tip of the pyramid is at the highest point of the tomb and the soul of the deceased will ascend to heaven from the tip. But it was the Pyramids of Giza who acquire fame and worship through its majestic structure and ancestry.
Belonging to the three Pharoahs of the same bloodline, Cheops (Father), Chephren (Son), Mykorinos (Grandson), the first pyramid is the biggest pyramid in the world. It decreased in size because the descendent, out of respect, felt that its tomb should not be bigger than that of his ancestor. Since only pharoahs built pyramids, and their personal belongings are exquisite, or made of gold, the prominent appearance of the pyramids started to draw tomb robbers. Thus, subsequent generations of pharoahs stopped building pyramids as tombs. Instead, they had their tombs built underground in Valleys which bring us to the 2nd most important site in Egypt, Valley of the Kings. :))
Do you want to be mummified?
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