An Egyptian Funeral

When an Egyptian died there was a long process to prepare the body. First they would remove the liver, lungs, and brain and those were dried out and put in canopic jars. The heart was left in the body so it could be weighed because the heart stored records of past deeds. Then the deceased man would be accused of crimes and Thoth would tell if they were lies or not. If they had lied the Devourer of Souls would eat the heart and the man would not make it to the afterlife. If they didn’t lie the man would move on to the afterlife.


The body would then be covered with crystals made of natron which stopped the decaying process, packed with a dry material and wrapped in linen bandages. They used wax plates to cover the cuts in the flesh. They would also open the mouth and give food and water to the mummy. Rich people would have beautiful elaborate coffins while poor people would usually just have a plain wooden coffin.

Duat was the world of the afterlife, part of it was full of snakes, lakes of fire and other perils. Spells to counter these were often written on the coffin. Statues of underworld gods were placed in tombs to ward off evil. The funerary barge was used to transport bodies of rich and important people, the mummy was under a canopy and two female mourners with shaved heads stood on both ends. Green was painted on both sides of the barge; it symbolizes resurrection in the afterlife. The funeral takes a long time to prepare.