History
Ancient Egypt
Year One
History | LKS2 | Ancient Egypt | Mummies | Lesson 3
Success Criteria
Aim
Mummification
Wash the body with palm oil and water from the river.
Step 1
The body would be washed and purified with a mixture of palm oil and water that was brought from the River Nile.
Mummification
Pull out the brains through the nostrils with a hook.
Step 2
The brain would be taken out through the nose by using a hook.
The skull was then filled with sawdust or resin.
Mummification
Cut out the internal body organs (except the heart).
Step 3
The organs were removed from the body (except from the heart). The liver, lungs, intestines and stomach were put in canopic jars and left to dry. The jars were carved into the shape of the four sons of Horus – one of the ancient Egyptian gods. Each one protected a different organ.
A
b
c
d
Hapi, with the baboon head, protects the lungs.
Imesty has a human head and he guards the liver.
Duamatef has the head of a jackal and it protects the stomach.
Qebehsenuf had a falcon’s head and protected the intestines.
A-
b-
c-
d-
Mummification
Cover the body with natron salt. Leave it to dry for 40 days.
Step 4
The body was placed in a bath of substance called natron. The natron would be used to dry up the rest of the moisture in the body.
The body was left in this natron bath for 40 days.
Mummification
Remove the body from the natron.
Step 5
After the 40 days, the body was removed from the natron and packed with straw, dried grass and bits of linen.
Mummification
Apply make up, fake eyes and hair to make it look nice.
Step 6
Mummification
Wrap the body with linen, add amulets and a book of the dead.
Step 7
The mummy was wrapped in long rolls of linen and then covered in a sheet called a shroud. Amulets and a Book of the Dead were then added.
Book of the Dead
linen
amulet
Mummification
The mummy was placed in a sarcophagus and moved to a tomb.
Step 8
Finally, the body was placed in a large stone coffin called a sarcophagus and taken to the tomb or pyramid.
How to Make a Mummy
The mummification process has been split into its different stages.
Put the stages in the right order by using the knowledge that you now have.
How to Make a Mummy
Wash the body with palm oil and water from the river.
1
Next, pull out the brains through the nostrils using a hook. Fill the skull with sawdust or resin.
2
Cut out the internal body organs (except the heart). Put the liver, lungs, intestines and stomach in canopic jars to dry.
3
Cover the body with natron salt. Leave it to dry for 40 days.
4
After the 40 days, remove the natron and pack the body with straw, dried grass and linen.
5
Apply make up, fake eyes and hair to make it look nice.
6
Wrap the body in linen fabric, adding amulets and a Book of the Dead.
7
Finally, place the mummy in a sarcophagus and move to the pyramid.
8
Message in a Canopic Jar
Imagine you are an ancient Egyptian who has been able to smuggle a message into one of the Pharaoh’s canopic jars.
Your message is for people in the future.
Tell the people in the future about the mummification process that you have been helping with.
Use the Message in a Jar Activity Sheet as a place to write your ideas.
Where Did the Mummies Go?
Mummies were buried in a complicated series of chambers inside a pyramid.
Try and match the label with the part of the tomb. Answer on a whiteboard.
Treasury
Entrance
Burial Chamber
Antechamber
Annex
Success Criteria
Aim