The process of mummification on painted coffins in Ptolemy era: cleaning, wrapping and funeral (collected by Zeus Museum in hildesheim, Germany)

The Nile Valley in Egypt and Mesopotamia in the Middle East are the earliest areas where ancient urban civilization appeared, which had a far-reaching impact on world civilization. Today, the pyramids, underground tombs and temples in Egypt are always the most popular places of interest in the world. Mummies are the most fascinating and symbolic representative cultural relics in ancient Egyptian civilization.

The achievements of ancient Egyptians in astronomy, mathematics, medicine and surgery often surprised and admired future generations; Their "religious cosmology" originated very early. They believe that life has no end, and death is only a transition from dust to eternity. The body must be properly preserved, the tissues and organs are intact, and the functions are still the same, so that it can reunite with the soul and board another life.

Egyptians invented the "mummification" method of preserving corpses as early as 4000 years ago, but their "secret recipe" has not been fully analyzed so far. About 2500 BC (the "fourth dynasty" of the "ancient kingdom"), they introduced precious medicinal materials from other places to study and adjust the formula for preserving corpses; Even around 1000 BC, his mummification began to improve. What's more, in addition to the human body, they also "mummified" animals.

Almost every pharaoh of the ancient Egyptian empire, after he ascended the throne, took preparing for the funeral and building a mausoleum as the top priority, so as to ensure that his body and family could rest undisturbed after his death. They tried their best to bury him with gorgeous coffins and luxurious treasures to accompany * * * to live forever. After 10 years of communication, our library has been scrambling to purchase and collect two treasures representing the eternal life of ancient Egypt-mummies and human coffins. They have been officially displayed before. Here we use these two cultural relics to talk about the afterlife of ancient Egypt.

There are three methods of mummification: up, middle and down.

In the world after the death of ancient Egyptians, only the royal family, high officials, high priests or people who were particularly favored by Pharaoh could enjoy the "mummification" of the dead bodies; After the decline of the ancient Egyptian empire and the change of social structure, "eternal life in the afterlife" has also become the heartfelt yearning of the emerging bourgeoisie, leading to the phenomenon of "mummification" of corpses gradually becoming common.

In principle, the importance of mummification depends on the relative improvement of the deceased's status and financial resources. When Herodotus arrived in Egypt, he described the process of "sorting out the bodies" of the ancient Egyptians, including: first, smearing the face of the deceased with melted turpentine to protect the facial image and prevent dryness; Second, brain marrow treatment; Third, take out the internal organs; Fourth, dehydration; Fifth, cosmetic plastic surgery; Sixth, parcels; Seventh, the mummy greeted his card (one of the components of the ancient Egyptian soul). According to the complexity of the process, it is divided into upper, middle and lower levels. In recent years, scholars' examination and research on mummies can also prove, supplement and correct Herodotus' rumors.

"Shangfa" is the corpse management technology of mummification, such as extracting brain marrow, eviscerating internal organs, mummifying, applying sesame oil, beautifying the body and so on. By comparing the unearthed mummies, experts can confirm that the bodies treated by this method are indeed the best preserved.

"Sino-French" is to inject "corrosion inhibitor" from the anus of the corpse, dissolve the internal organs, and make the corpse get legal treatment, leaving only "skin and bones".

And "diarrhea" means that after the body is cleaned up, it enters the "mummy" process without any special treatment.

The most common way to deal with mummies all over the world is the middle and lower levels. High-quality and beautiful mummies can preserve the most delicate parts of human tissues, such as fingerprints and even sweat pores.

Male anonymous mummy

The mummy bought in our museum has brown hair; The reason why the left nostril is enlarged is obviously because the copper wire hooks into the nasal membrane and reaches the brain directly. His nose was also pressed by bandages and masks, which caused it to collapse. At that time, in order to steal the jewels and amulets buried with him, the grave robbers tore off his bandage and exposed his head and lower limbs. From this observation, it can be inferred that his whole body is well preserved. The appearance of its peripheral body has also turned into a natural dark color due to the oxidation of "antiseptic paste"; He also suffers from mummification, which leads to muscle contraction and bone floating. If you look at his feet again, you can still see his toes and nails!

In addition to "extracting brain marrow", the "corpse manager" also cut open his left abdomen and performed the so-called "laparotomy to remove internal organs". According to the special treatment and preservation conditions, we can distinguish and conclude that this statue is a "high-quality mummy". This mummy was circumcised before her death. As early as 3000 BC, the ancient Egyptians carried out this ceremony, from which we can infer and understand their health care concept and the development of surgery at that time.

Male anonymous mummy

Dick's coffin

According to the hieroglyphics on the "human coffin" (170×49cm), it can be known that the deceased Dick Nudi-Khnoum is the son of HOR- Herb (father) and Hediken (mother). Moreover, the portrait of the deceased was not decorated with a beard, and its social status was not explained in the narrative. It can be speculated that the deceased may have been underage when he died.

According to its modeling and decoration style, it can be inferred that its age is after the "third transitional period" and before the Greek conquest of Egypt. In other words, this is a typical coffin model between "Yi Sai Period" and "Xia Dynasty" (that is, 664-332 BC), and the paintings on it are also "retro".

The closing mode of the coffin seat and the coffin cover is that the upper and lower tenons are inserted into the groove. The appearance of the coffin is that the linen attached to the outer edge of the coffin is painted with gypsum white background, and then painted with red, yellow, black and green to write down images and hieroglyphics; Inside the coffin, there are unadorned logs. The base at the bottom of the coffin was obviously born to meet the needs of setting up a coffin in a "funeral", and the base was painted with black and red geometric patterns.

Above the coffin lid, the portrait of the deceased is painted Chu red (the man's coffin is characterized by Chu brown skin color), his eyebrows are painted black, and his hair is divided into three bundles; Under the neck and chest, there is a string of ousekh tied to Hayato's first sun gear, symbolizing rebirth and rebirth with flowers. The first sun gear and sun gear of Hayato were the protectors of the three gods "Boda-Soklan-Odex", and an "oudjat" was tied to the necklace to help it resist fierce attacks.

In the middle of the coffin, with a full moon on her head and waving the wings of the goddess Maa, the two goddesses, Nafis and Eggerz, knelt beside her to wait on her, and some of them cheered for the rebirth of Eustatis. Below it, the altar is in the center, with four sons of Ozus, Amsett, Hapi, Duamutev and Kubeisenuf, guarding the dead in pairs, and Adibis, the dog-shaped avatar, sitting at both ends.

The striped geometric pattern on the upper frame of the coffin originated from the textile decorations on the shroud. There are 17 lines of hieroglyphics on the lower part of the coffin cover, which are taken from the scriptures of the deceased; The name of the deceased Dick Nu was written in the center of the son of Forherb and Hadikon. The other eight lines of prayers are symmetrical, praying that Ossethus, Adibis and Ossus would bless the dead to ascend to the "eternal realm".

The painting on the back of this coffin seat is really valuable. Generally, there are few pictures on the back of coffins, and if there are any, they are mostly written by the scriptures. At the hanging end of the dead man's back hair, an extremely gorgeous anthropomorphic "Pilier-Djed" raised his arms, representing Wang Ou Zaixi of the underworld to welcome the dead and help him to come back to life, and Nute (or Egis) also guarded him.

On both sides of the coffin seat, there are five guardians in a vertical direction, which are symmetrical. Adibis sat at the top, and four elves stood side by side, guarding the body of the dead.