Mummification (If you are squeamish, please do not read.)

I'm writing about this because Egyptian history facinates me.  When I was little, it used to scare me; but now, it's kind of interesting.  One of the most important parts of Egyptian history is mummification, the preservation of bodies for the afterlife.

Mummification took a number of days, up to 70, to complete.  A priest would put on a mask of a jackal, to represent Anubis, who was a God of the dead and mummification.  The mummification began with purifying and washing the body.  Next, the organs in the body, all EXCEPT the heart, are pulled out (including the brain).  Then, they stuffed the body completely.  They dried out the body with natron, which is a type of salt that took the moisture out of the body.  After a 50-day process of drying out the body with natron, they removed the stuffing and it was exchanged for linen or sawdust.  They took strips of linen and wrapped the half-mummified body and they covered it in a shroud.  It was then placed in a stone sarcophagus. 

Only very wealthy people and Pharohs were given the opportunity for mummification, because the process was very expensive back then.  The people who could not afford for this process would just leave the corpses out in the sun and sand.  I think that sounds more beautiful because they just left the body to rest.  You will still see them in the afterlife, it just wasn't as an expensive pass to the afterlife.