Egyptian mummies have always been an important testament to human civilization from thousands of years ago and are the subject of research of historians and scientists for thousands of years. It has long been believed that mummification technology was invented to preserve the bodies of the deceased. Indeed, thanks to mummification, ancient bodies from thousands of years ago still retain a certain integrity, resisting the laws of natural decomposition.

It is believed that the ancient Egyptians used mummification as a way to preserve the body after death. However, researchers from the University of Manchester’s Manchester Museum in the UK have shown that this elaborate burial technique actually serves another purpose: as a way to “guide” the deceased to God. St.

Campbell Price, the museum’s expert on ancient Egypt and Sudan, told Live Science that the idea that mummification is to preserve the body has long taken root. This idea originated with Western researchers in the Victorian era. Scientists at the time believed that the ancient Egyptians preserved their corpses in a similar way to how people preserved fish. Their reasoning is quite simple, as both processes contain the same ingredient: salt.

However, the salt that the ancient Egyptians used was different from the salt used to preserve the catch of the day. Called natron, this naturally occurring mineral is a mixture of sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, sodium chloride and sodium sulfate that is abundant around lake beds near the Nile and is used as a key ingredient in the mummification process.

Price says another material commonly used with mummies is incense, which was also used as a gift to the gods: “Look at frankincense and myrrh – they’re in the story of God. Jesus of Christianity In the history of ancient Egypt we discovered that they were also gifts given to the gods by the ancients. Even the ancient Egyptian word incense is ‘senetjer’ which literally means ‘to make sacred’ When you burn incense in a temple – the house of a god it makes the space sacred. , the body becomes a divine being. That is the idea of the ancients: put spices on the body to ‘sanctify’, not necessarily for the purpose of preserving it.”

Like the ancient Egyptians, Victorian Egyptologists also believed that the ᴅᴇᴀᴅ would need their bodies in the afterlife. This concept adds credibility to the misconception about mummification.

Price said: “There is an obsession born of Victorian ideas about the body needing to be perfected in the afterlife. This includes the removal of internal organs. I think of mummification as a ritual that actually has a deeper meaning, essentially turning the body into a god statue because the ᴅᴇᴀᴅ person has been transformed.”