How Ancient Egyptians Made a Mummy, Step by Step

How did ancient Egyptians make a mummy, step by step? We follow one body through all 70 days, from the hook up the nose to the final wrapping. All research and sources are linked below. First the brain was drained out and thrown away. Then the soft organs went into canopic jars. The heart stayed in the body. Next came about 40 days under natron salt, then oils, resins and hundreds of yards of linen. Mummies weren't only for pharaohs, either. Embalmers offered three price levels, and the poorest people were simply buried in the sand. Nakht, the scribe we follow, is made up. What happens to him is based on what historians know. 📚 RESEARCH & SOURCES: ▸ Herodotus, Histories, Book 2 (c. 430 BC): his account of brain removal with an iron hook, 70 days in natron and the three price levels of embalming ▸ Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Book 1 (1st century BC): the man who made the cut was chased off and pelted with stones ▸ Bob Brier & Ronald Wade, modern mummification experiment (Baltimore, 1994): the brain had to be whisked into liquid and drained through the nose, and the body was dry after about five weeks in natron. https://www.livescience.com/archaeolo... ▸ Rageot et al., "Biomolecular analyses enable new insights into ancient Egyptian embalming", Nature 614 (2023): labelled pots from a Saqqara workshop show 'myrrh' was really a blend of oils and animal fat, and some resins came from Southeast Asia. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05... ▸ Genesis 50:3: the Egyptians mourned Jacob for seventy days PEOPLE & SITES MENTIONED: ▸ Gebelein Man ('Ginger'), British Museum, London: a natural desert mummy more than 5,000 years old ▸ Clay Anubis mask, Roemer- und Pelizaeus-Museum, Hildesheim, Germany ▸ Saqqara embalming workshop, Egypt ▸ Ramesses II, whose mummy survives today ▸ Ramesses IV, buried with onions for eyes ▸ Anubis, the four sons of Horus, Ammit ▸ Herodotus, Diodorus Siculus, Bob Brier Chapters 0:00 Through the Nose 1:00 An Accident in the Sand 1:59 Day One, the Cut 2:55 The Brain Problem 3:58 Four Jars, One Heart 5:01 Forty Days of Salt 6:11 Oils, Linen and Charms 7:28 Why the Body Mattered 8:41 Mummies on a Budget 9:43 Seventy Days for Forever #AncientEgypt #EgyptianHistory #AncientHistory #Mummy #Mummies #Mummification #Embalming #CanopicJars #EgyptianMythology #Afterlife #History #Animation #Education