Burial Practices

Jack Pullen

Ancient Egyptian burial practices involved a process called embalming,

which stopped the decaying process of the body. First, the Egyptians washed
the body with palm wine and Nile water. Next, the organs were removed via
a large gash in the side of the body. The body was then stuffed and covered
in natron, which is a special kind of salt. Then the body was washed with
Nile water again. Finally, the organs and the body were also wrapped in
linen. (The British Museum)

The Egyptian burial practices involved treating the organs separately from
the body. The Egyptians placed the organs in canopic jars, sealed jars that
are decorated with a god’s head. They thought that the organs were guarded
by different gods. Imsety guarded the liver, Hapy guarded the lungs,
Duamutef guarded the stomach, and Qebehsenuef guarded the intestines.
The gods “guarded” them forever. (The British Museum)

The burial ceremonies for the poor and the wealthy differed greatly. The
wealthy, such as the pharaohs, were so rich, that they were buried in grand
places or pyramids and their whole family came to the burial ceremony. The
poor had very cheap ceremonies, and few family or friends attended.
Basically, for a poor man, a hole was dug in the ground and he was laid to
rest. (The British Museum)

The burial places differed for different dynasties of pharaohs. In earlier

times, the pharaohs were buried in pyramids, in later times, they were buried
in temples, and finally, they were just buried in isolation, to stop tomb
robbers. The pyramids were by far the grandest burial places for a pharaoh.
The temples were easily accessible for people to leave religious gifts &
sacrifices because the people believed that the pharaoh was their god. The
pharaohs buried in isolation were in a more humble burial site, with very
little royal decorations.

Citations
http://www.ancientegypt.co.uk/mummies/story/main.html