Secrets of the mummies: what can we learn about ancient Egypt from the mummies buried there? (World History).

It happened entirely by accident. A man was riding his donkey along a desert road in Egypt when the animal suddenly stumbled. The donkey's hoof had fallen through a hole in the sand.

The man helped the donkey up, then peered into the hole. He saw an underground tomb filled with mummies.

And so by accident, in 1996, a donkey discovered one of ancient. Egypt's largest underground burial tombs, near Bahariya (Ba-ha-REE-ah) Oasis in western Egypt.

The mummies there date back more than 2,000 years--to the time when Greece and then Rome ruled Egypt (see time line, p. 22). Because many of the mummies are covered with a gold-leaf mask, the site has been named the Valley of the Golden Mummies.

Archaeologists (scientists who study past human life) have found more than 150 tombs at the site. They estimate that more than 10,000 mummies may be buried there. "Never before have such a [large] number of mummies been found in a single site in Egypt," says Zahi Hawass, the archaeologist in charge of excavation.

Why Mummies?

You may have seen mummies in museums or even horror movies. It is hard to imagine these shrunken forms as human. But every mummy was once a living person.

Mummies have also turned up in Peru, Mexico, and other countries. But the largest number by far have been found in Egypt.

Ancient Egypt was one of the world's greatest civilizations (see time line).

Much of Egypt's stability came from its geography. "Egypt," wrote the ancient historian Herodotus, "is a gift of the Nile."

Most of Egypt gets almost no rain. But every spring, the Nile River would flood, leaving its banks covered with fertile soil. Herodotus said of the Egyptians, "There are no people... who live from the soil with so little labor."

The bountiful (abundant) crops that sprang from this soil allowed the Egyptians to amass great riches, while the desert that surrounded Egypt helped protect it from invasion.

Egyptians believed their pharaohs (kings) to be divine, the weather and crops a gift from the gods, and themselves the gods' grateful children.

The Egyptians also believed in an afterlife--a life that continues after death. But a person could enjoy the afterlife, they thought, only if the body is mummified (embalmed and dried).

Making Mummies

Priests would first remove the liver, stomach, intestines, and lungs, preserving them in special containers called canopic jars. The heart, which Egyptians believed to be the center of intelligence, also was preserved, but returned to the body.

Next, priests would yank out the eyeballs and replace them with glass eyes. They slipped the brain out of the skull through the nose with a hooked stick and filled the skull with resin. Then they covered the body with salts and let it dry for 40 days.

After that, the body would be wrapped with resin-smeared linen. It could take an entire football field of linen to wrap a single mummy.

Finally, the mummy was put in a coffin for burial in a tomb. But before the mummy was placed in the tomb, one final ceremony was performed--the Opening of the Mouth of the Dead. Priests touched the wrapped lips of the mummy with ceremonial objects while saying prayers. This allowed the dead to eat in the next life.

Pyramids and Tombs

Early Egyptian pharaohs were buried in massive pyramids like those at Giza (see map, p.23). But grave robbers often stole treasures from these tombs. So Pharaoh Thutmose I, who died in 1482 B.C., was buried in the hills west of Thebes. His wife, Hatshepsut, who became Egypt's first female pharaoh, had a magnificent tomb carved out nearby. Other royalty followed this example, and were buried in what became known as the Valley of the Kings.

The interiors of burial tombs often were painted with religious scenes and contained food, drink, furniture, and jewelry. Small figurines representing servants also were placed in the tomb to care for the dead in the afterlife.

The Big Test

At first, only members of the royal family were mummified. Later, ordinary people could afford mummification too.

That wasn't enough to get them into the afterlife, which was ruled by a god named Osiris (oh-SY-russ). The dead had to answer trick questions to get past demons that guarded the gates to the underworld.

To help them outsmart the demons, people were buried with The Book of the Dead. This handy guide gave many of the needed answers. If they passed those tests, a ferryman took them across a river to the heart of the underworld.

Once there, the dead had to pass the biggest exam of all. The jackal-headed god Anubis (uh-noo-buhs) weighed the heart of the dead person against the Feather of Truth--which contained all of the person's evil deeds. The dead person had to confess to all the sins he or she had not committed. A confession might have included:

"I have not oppressed the poor... I have not caused the slave to be ill treated of his master. I have not made any to weep."

If the heart and feather failed to balance, hungry monsters would devour the dead person. But those who passed the test could live with Osiris forever, spending their days eating, drinking, playing games, and listening to music.

Stolen Mummies

Sadly, ancient Egypt's dead have not been allowed to rest in peace. Robbers have plundered (robbed) many tombs for gold and other riches, destroying the mummies or selling them as curiosities.

In recent times, however, the security of these long-ago souls has been protected by Egypt's government.

Scientists have learned much from the study of mummies. For instance, at Bahariya, Zahi Hawass and his team have discovered that the people who lived there were winegrowers. Their wealth allowed them to have fancy burials that only royalty could have afforded in earlier times.

Hawass has examined more than 100 of the mummies at Bahariya. But, he says, "eventually, we will return them to their resting place. I do not believe the remains of the dead should be exposed to the public as a thrill."

WEB: www.crystalinks.com/bahariya.html

Time Line

2750-2260 B.C.

Construction of the great pyramids

1570-1070 B.C.

Egypt is the world's strongest power.

1333-1323 B.C.

King Tutankhamen rules Egypt.

332 B.C.

Alexander the Great adds Egypt to his empire.

37-30 B.C.

Cleopatra reigns.

30 B.C.

Rome takes control of Egypt.

A.D. 642

Muslims conquer Egypt.

Your Turn

1. bountiful  A. ruler
2. pharaoh    B. abundant
3. mummify    C. rob
4. Osiris     D. preserve
5. plunder    E. god of the dead

Think About It

Is it right to excavate mummies for scientific purposes? Explain.

Word Match, p. 22

1. B

2. A

3. D

4. E

5. C