RECIPE FOR A MUMMY was a complex and expensive procedure, in part because it required so many products. Although Egyptologists have not been able to identify all of these with complete certainty, here are the top eight essential ingredients to making the perfect mummy.
MUMMIFICATION
1
NATRON AND OINTMENTS
Natron was the main ingredient used to dry out the dead body, but embalmers applied oils such as cedar, and perhaps juniper oil, to maintain the suppleness of the flesh.
2
RESIN
3
LICHEN AND ONIONS
The importance of resin was mentioned in the Admonitions of Ipuwer, a text from the Old Kingdom: “None shall sail northward to Byblos today; what shall we do for cedar trees for our mummies?”
Onions were sometimes used to fill the body’s cavities, often serving as false eyes. Lichen has been found in the abdomens of Siptah and Ramses IV.
Calcite ointment jar engraved with the name King Pepi I. 6th dynasty. Egyptian Museum, Berlin
4
SAWDUST, STRAW, SAND, AND RAGS . . .
All of these materials were used to fill the body’s cavities during the 21st dynasty. Sawdust was also spread on the skin to aid the drying process.
5
SPICES
6
BEESWAX
It has not been scientifically proven that spices were used in mummification. Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus allude to cassia and cinnamon from India, Ceylon, and China.
Bag containing natron, the salts used to dry the body during mummification. British Museum, London
Wax has sometimes been found sealing the mouth, nasal passages, and other cavities in mummies from the New Kingdom and the Late Period. Bees were valued for their magical properties.
7
INCENSE AND MYRRH
8
PALM WINE
Myrrh from Somalia and the south of Arabia was used to fill and anoint the body, and its fragrance was highly valued. Incense was used to fumigate the body, and in funerary rites.
According to Herodotus, palm wine was used to clean bodily cavities, but so far no archaeological evidence has been found for this practice. TOP TO BOTTOM: BRIDGEMAN/ACI; ORONOZ/ALBUM; BRITISH MUSEUM/SCALA, FLORENCE; E. LESSING/ALBUM; SSPL/AGE FOTOSTOCK
The face on the mummy of Queen Nodjmet, wife of Herihor, the high priest of Amun in Thebes. 21st dynasty. Egyptian Museum, Cairo
Mummy of a woman named Cleopatra. Second century A.D. British Museum, London
Copies of hooks used during mummification to remove the brain through the nose. The Science Museum, London