Fragments of a mummification manual written on sedge paper.
Egyptologists recently completed the translation of one of the oldest mummification manuals. The sedge documents were assembled from many fragments, partly in the Louvre in France and partly at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.
Some of the chapters were lost, and what remained was mainly about how to treat skin diseases, especially those with swelling symptoms. Surprisingly, one of the sections is about how to embalm a corpse.
The contents of these papyrus documents were described in a recent article published by Ars Technica. It turns out that at the Time, the two contents were put together for a reason. The formulas used to treat the bodies, the way the bandages were wrapped, were all related to the treatment of skin diseases, as the compounds contained in those herbs could both prevent infection and embalm.
The document, called the “Papyrus Louvre” (Papyrus Louvre-Carlsberg), is one of the oldest mummification manuals ever discovered, and one of only three documents on mummification ever found. Based on the style of the text, researchers speculate that the document is from about 1450 B.C., a thousand years earlier than the other two known documents.
However, the recipe used in this document is similar to compounds used in pre-Egyptian mummies made 2,000 years earlier, using a mixture of vegetable oils, aromatic plant extracts, gum or sugar, and heated conifer resin.
A 70-day production process
Although the basic rules of mummification have been passed down in Egypt for thousands of years, the details vary somewhat from era to era. By the time of the New Kingdom in ancient Egypt, when this “Louvre papyrus” was written, mummification had developed into a complex 70-day project.
The contents of the Louvre papyrus appear to have been written for artisans who already had a certain knowledge base, and are merely memorandum-like points.
Sofie Schiødt, an Egyptologist at the University of Copenhagen who worked on the translation, said that basic steps such as the need to dry the body with soda were omitted, probably because the author thought it was obvious.
However, this document also mentions some technical details that are not in the other two documents. For example, it mentions the use of aromatic extracts such as resin, mixed with some adhesives made of liquid, as a coating on top of a red cloth covering the face of the deceased. The faces of mummies made in this period were indeed covered with fabric and resin, which is consistent with what is recorded in these texts.
The King’s Treatment
“Throughout the process, it was repeated every four days.” Skeeter said. According to the contents of the manual, the entire process was divided into multiple intervals of one stage every 4 days, with the ritual taking place on the last two days.
The first four days are the busiest, with a lot of work to be done, including cleaning the body and removing organs. Within each subsequent 4 days, most of the work is done on the 4th day, with most of the time spent waiting. The deceased spent most of the time lying there, covered by fabric and covered with piles of straw and aromatic insect repellent plants.
During the first half of the process, the main goal was to dry the body with blistering soda. The outside of the body and the body cavity were stuffed with blistering soda. In the second half of the process, the main goal is to wrap the body with bandages, resin and ointment to act as an antiseptic.
The manual also mentions that it is recommended to hold a ceremony for the deceased every 4 days to celebrate the “restoration of the dignity of the body of the deceased”. In total, there were 17 ceremonies during the 68 days. There is also a full-day ceremony on the last two days. Of course, this was not an entitlement for any Egyptian commoner. Only members of the royal Family, or dignitaries, underwent this 70-day process after their death.
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