EGYPTEGYPTMUMMIES AND PYRAMIDSMUMMIES AND PYRAMIDS

INTRODUCTION

The Egyptians believed in an afterlife, a life that would continue after death. Their belief was so strong and important to the people that great preparation was made for death and burial. Pyramid building was one part of this preparation. Another part was the preparation of the body itself.

HOUSES OF ETERNITY: MASTABAS

Early Egyptians buried people in holes in the desert, and poor people were buried in this way throughout Egiptian civilization. But pharahos and nobles were laid to rest in tombs that would last forever and show the world their glory.

The first royal tombs were called mastabas. These were low, rectangular mud-brick buildings, with a burial chamber built beneath them.

THE STEP PYRAMID

Around 2650 BC, an architect called Imhotep made a new kind of tomb for the pharaoh Zoser. He built several stone mastabas on top of each other, each one slightly smaller than the last. This made an impressive shape, known as a step pyramid. Soon, all kings were buried inside towering pyramids.

The pyramid is about 60 metres high and its sides are more than 100 metres in lenght

SNEFERUS STEP PYRAMID

Kings who came after Zoser also wanted to be buried in pyramids. King Sneferu had a step pyramid built at Meidum raising to 92 metres in height. Then, for some unknown reason, the pyramid was abandoned and Snefuru built another at Dashur (the Bent Pyramid).

BENT PYRAMID

When the Egyptians first tried to make a pyramid with straight sides instead of steps, they made the sides too steep. They tried to correct this by making them less steep at the top, but this left the pyramid looking a little strange. It became known as the Bent Pyramid.

It´s 105 metres high and was built about 2600 BC.

THE RED PYRAMID

Sneferu planned another pyramid, also at Dashur. This is the Red Pyramid (also known as the North Pyramid). The builders got the angle right this time, and the sides slope gently to a point. It was the first “true” pyramid.

It´s 104 metres high, and its sides are 220 metres long. It was finished in 2589.

THE GIZA PYRAMIDS

Egypt´s most famous pyramids are at Giza. Giza was a necropolis (a burial ground) where three of ancient Egypt´s most famous kings were buried in pyramids. They were members of the same family: Khafre, Khufu and Menkaure (father, son and grandson).

THE PYRAMIDE BUILDERS

People used to think the pyramids were built by slaves who were treated harshly, but the workers were actually free men. They were paid by the pharaoh, and they were proud to be part of such an amazing achievement.

BUILDING A PYRAMID

As well as the builders, a massive number of other people were needed to provide all the stone, feed the workers and transport the blocks from the quarry to the building site. This was such a huge effort of organization that building the pyramids helped to transform Egypt into a powerful and efficient country.

STAGE BY STAGE

Building a pyramid was an incredibly complicated job, and the work was done slowly and carefully, in many different stages. For the biggest pyramides, the whole process could take over 20 years to complete.

An architect made plans and built models to show to the pharaoh

Workmen dragged the bloks to boats, whic took them down the river to the pyramid site

Large bloks of stone were carved from quarries with mallets and chisels

As the pyramid grew, the workmen hauled the bloks up huge ramps studded with wooden rollers

The ramps were gradually removed, and a layer of gleaming polished stone was added

TOMB ROBBERS

The last thing the kings of ancient Egypt wanted was for their tombs to be broken into. But it was impossible to hide a pyramid. Despite all the blocked passageways and hidden entrances, thieves got in and stole the contents.

VALLEY OF THE KINGS

Pyramids weren´t perfect resting places after all, and for this reason a new type of tomb was needed. Pharaos of the New Kingdom (around 1550 to 1070 BC) were buried in tombs cut into the side of a remote valley instead. It´s called theValley of the Kings.

THE DISCOVERY OF THE TOMB OF TUTANKHAMUN

The most famous Egyptian tomb of all was built for Tutankhamun, the boy king who died when was not much more than 18 years old. Over 3000 years passed. Most Egyptian royal tombs were ransacked by robbers, leaving only fragments of the treasures. But in 1922, a British archaeologist named Howard Carter was searching the Valley of the Kings. He had almost given up hope of finding anything new when he found the tomb of Tutankhamon.

TUMB OF TUTANKHAMUN

MUMMY OF TUTANKHAMUN

LIFE AFTER DEATH

The mummies were made because Egyptians thought that the dead needed their bodies in a new life after death. They believed a person would life forever in paradise, but only if their body was saved.

ANUBIS DEITY OF THE DEAD

An image from the Book of the Dead on a wall in the tomb of Twosret and Setnakhte.  Anubis, the jackal-headed guardian deity of the dead, prepares a mummy.  Four canopic jars await internal organs.

THE EGYPTIAN SOUL

In Egyptian mythology, the human soul is made up of five parts: the Ka, the Ba, the Akh, the Sheut, and the Ren. During life, the soul, including those of animals, and of gods, was thought to inhabit a body (named the Ha, meaning flesh).

EMBALMING PROCESS

The brain was usually extracted through the nose and discarded, (since it was thougth only to be the origin of mucus). The heart was left inside the body, since it was thought to embody the soul. The liver, lungs, stomach and intestines were embalmed and stored in four canopic jars that were left in the tomb.

THE CANOPIC JARS

The canopic jars were the representation of the four sons of Horus. They are funerary gods and protect the mummified organs of corpses, kept in four different canopic jars.

Duamutef was the god who protected the stomach and small intestines. He was associated with the jackal Neithand was protecd by Neith.

Imseti in human form, protected the liver and was protected by Isis

Hapi in baboon form, protected the lungs and was protected by Nephthys.

Qebehsenuef in hawk form, protected the large intestines and was protected by Serket.

THE BODY IS WRAPPED IN STRIPES OF LINEN

THE BODY IS PUT INSIDE A COFFIN

OR SARCOPHAGUS….

CEREMONY OF OPENING OF THE MOUTH

The ritual involved the symbolic animation of a statue or mummy by magically opening its mouth so that it could breathe and speak. The ritual gives the deceased drink and food. After the ceremony, the pharaoh is placed in a sarcophagus (a large stone or wood box which the coffin in placed for burial). Furniture, works of art, and valuable objects are placed in with pharaoh. And then the pharaoh is off on it's journey in the underworld.

FUNERARY TEXTS

Many mummies were provided with some form of funerary literature to take with them to the afterlife. Most funerary literature consists of lists of spells and instructions for navigating the afterlife.

STELA OF FALSE DOOR

In tombs and temples for the dead there were niches for offerings, the back walls of which were given the form of doors. They served as a pathway between the living and the dead by which the Ka and the other spiritual parts of the deceased could communicate with the world of the living. The nourishment that was offered to the dead, could be real food placed on an offering slab or symbolic food carved into a stela.

PRESENTS FOR THE DEAD

All Egyptians were buried with at least some burial goods that they thought were necessary after death. At a minimum, these usually consisted of everyday objects such as bowls, combs, and other trinkets, along with food. Wealthier Egyptians could afford to be buried with jewelry, furniture, and other valuables, which made them targets of tomb robbers.

USHABTIS

Ushabtis were placed in tombs among the grave goods and were intended to act as substitutes for the deceased, should he be called upon to do manual labor in the afterlife

Most ushabtis were of minor size, and many produced in multiples – they sometimes covered the floor around a sarcophagus.

THE ENDTHE END