page_title: Ancient Egyptian funerary practices
section_title: Embalming
hierarchical_section_title: Ancient Egyptian funerary practices / Mummification / Embalming
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Bemalte Mumienbinde
context_page_description: The ancient Egyptians had an elaborate set of funerary practices that they believed were necessary to ensure their immortality after death. These rituals and protocols included mummifying the body, casting magic spells, and burial with specific grave goods thought to be needed in the Egyptian afterlife.
  The ancient Egyptian burial process had evolved over time as old customs were discarded and new ones adopted, but several important elements of the process persisted. Although specific details changed over time, the preparation of the body, the magic rituals, and grave goods were all essential parts of a proper Egyptian funeral.
  There were many different gods to prepare for. The ancient Egyptians believed that each god would separately judge the deceased before he could enter the afterlife.
context_section_description: The preservation of a dead body was critical if the deceased wanted a chance at acceptance into the afterlife. Within the Ancient Egyptian concept of the soul, ka, which represented vitality, leaves the body once the person dies. Only if the body is embalmed in a specific fashion will ka return to the deceased body, and rebirth will take place. The embalmers received the body after death, and in a systematized manner, prepared it for mummification. The family and friends of the deceased had a choice of options that ranged in price for the preparation of the body, similar to the process at modern funeral homes. Next, the embalmers escorted the body to ibw, translated to “place of purification,” a tent in which the body was washed, and then per nefer, “the House of Beauty,” where mummification took place.
caption: Painted mummy bandage
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