An activity from the Ancient Egypt Kit. A mummy is the preserved body of an animal or human in which some of the soft tissues did not decay after death. Mummies have been found all around the world, from England to Alaska, from China to Peru. Mummification happens when bacteria cannot grow inside a dead body.
Bodies can mummify if they are frozen or if they are buried in wet, boggy soil.
The first Egyptian mummies were made naturally by burying bodies in sand. The hot dry sand and the warm desert winds quickly dried out the body so it did not decay. However, as the tombs grew bigger, bodies came in contact with the air and began to decompose. The Egyptians began a new process of mummification. After a person's death, the Egyptian priests removed the person's organs and packed the body with natron, a type of salt found along the Nile River.