Mummified cat from Ancient Egypt. Musée du Louvre, ParisA mummy is a preserved corpse. The best-known mummies are those that have been embalmed with the specific purpose of preservation, particularly in ancient Egypt. In China, preserved corpses have been recovered from submerged cedar coffins packed with medicinal herbs. Mummies are also known to have formed naturally due to environmental conditions, such as extreme cold ( Ötzi the Iceman), acid ( Tollund Man) or desiccating dryness.
The term is thought to be derived from the Arabic word mumiyah, meaning bitumen; bitumen was once thought to be used extensively in ancient Egyptian embalming procedures due to the blackened skin of unwrapped mummies, though this is now in doubt. Another possible source for the name is the Egyptian Coptic word mum, for wax; unlike bitumen, beeswax really was extensively used in Egyptian embalming.
1 The history of mummies
The earliest 'mummified' individual dates back to approximately 3300 BC, although it is not a 'true' mummy. The body is on display in the British Museum and has been given the nickname of 'Ginger' because he has red hair. Ginger was buried in the hot desert sand with maybe some stones piled on top to prevent the corpse being eaten by jackals. The hot, dry conditions desiccated the body, preventing the muscle and soft tissues from decaying. Ginger was buried with some pottery vessels, which would have held food and drink to sustain him on his long journey to the other world. There are no written records of the religion or gods from that time, and it is not known if it was the intention of the ancient Egyptians that the deceased were being preserved. By the time of the First dynastyThe First and second Dynasties of Ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title of the "Protodynastic Period". The capital at that time was Tanis, Egypt. Information about the Protodynastic Period depends upon a few monuments and other objects be, the ancient Egyptians were definitely aware of what they were trying to achieve.
Mummy of PharaohThis article refers to the historical Pharaoh. For Pharaoh in the Book of Abraham, see Pharaoh (Book of Abraham). Pharaoh Standard Hebrew Paro Tiberian Hebrew Paroh is a title used to refer to the kings (of godly status) in ancient Egypt. See History of E Ramses II
The Egyptians also expanded the practice of mummification to animalSubkingdom Parazoa Porifera (sponges) Subkingdom " Agnotozoa" Placozoa Orthonectida Rhombozoa Subkingdom Metazoa "Radiata" Cnidaria Ctenophora (comb jellies) Bilateria Protostomia Acoelomorpha Platyhelminthes (flatworms) Nemertina (ribbon worms) Gastrotris. Sacred animals central to cultThis article discusses only religious or sociological cultist groups, and small or new religious groups considered harmful or strange by the public, media or anti-cult activists. This article does not discuss "cult" in its original sense of "religious pras, such as ibisThreskiornis ''Pseudibis ''Bostrychia ''Theristicus ''Cercibis ''Mesembrinibis ''Phimosus ''Lophotibis ''Eudocimus ''Plegadis ''Geronticus Ibises are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae. They all have long downcurved bills,, hawkThe term hawk refers to birds of prey in any of three senses: Strictly, to mean any of the species in the genera Accipiter Micronisus Melierax Urotriorchis and Megatriorchis''. The widespread Accipiter genus includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, the Sharp-shins, and catFor alternative meanings see cat (disambiguation). The cat (also called domestic cat or house cat is a small feline carnivorous mammal. Its scientific name is Felis silvestris catus or Felis silvestris domesticus but the species is sometimes referred to as, were mummified by the thousands.
Preservation techniques were also used by other cultures around the world, such as the Scythians, Incas and other original inhabitants of Peru, and the Pazyryks.
