| − | A '''mummy''' is a body preserved by chemical processes or special natural circumstances, often in the belief that the deceased will need it again in the afterlife. In ancient [[Egypt]], the bodies of people who could afford mummification underwent a complex process of removing organs, filling body cavities, dehydrating the corpse with natron, and then wrapping the body with linen bandages and enclosing it in a wooden sarcophagus. Many of these mummies have survived until our modern day. The earliest known egyptian "mummified" individual dates back to approximately 3300 BC | + | A '''mummy''' is a body preserved by chemical processes or special natural circumstances, often in the belief that the deceased will need it again in the afterlife. In ancient [[Egypt]], the bodies of people who could afford mummification underwent a complex process of removing organs, filling body cavities, dehydrating the corpse with natron, and then wrapping the body with linen bandages and enclosing it in a wooden sarcophagus. Many of these mummies have survived until our modern day. The earliest known egyptian "mummified" individual dates back to approximately 3300 BC. |