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Mummies and Mummification: New Kingdom

For the New Kingdom the treatment of the bodies, notably the bodies of royal persons, is better known than in most other periods.

The body was laid in natron and the viscera were removed from the body. The brain was removed through the nose with a long thin metal tool. The viscera were removed through an incision on the lower torso. The place of this incision changed in the New Kingdom, but was in general on the left side of the belly. The heart was normally removed, wrapped in linen and then replaced. The liver, stomach and intestines were placed into the canopic jars. The brain was discarded.

mummy masks
canopic jars
UC 72746

Ikram/Dodson 1998: 118-124

 

Mummification in:

Old Kingdom | Middle Kingdom | New Kingdom | Third Intermediate Period | Late Period to Coptic Period


 

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