Ancient Egyptian Burial Customs

1.      Mummification is the preservation of the dead; the main purpose of it is to give a soul use of its body in the afterlife.

2.      Mummification is a costly process that took months to complete. The skilled embalmers removed vital organs, then dried and wrapped the body in strips of linen. At first mummification was a privilege reserved for rulers and nobles but eventually ordinary Egyptian also won the right to mummify their dead.

3.      The scene and inscription in burial tombs tell us about how the spirit was preserved. Commonly to protect the spirit of the deceased they include the writings or the adaptations of the myth about the death of Osiris and spells to protect the deceased on his or her dangerous journey to the underworld. A figure known as “shabtics” functioned as servants for the deceased.

4.      Weighing of the heart is a ritual and final step in the transition to the afterlife, it depict the judgment of Osiris as he weighed a souls’ heart against the feather of truth, those he judged to be sinners were fed to the crocodile-shaped Eater of the dead, while those worthy souls entered the “Happy Field of Food”.

5.      One of the notable characteristic of ancient Egyptians belief about death is the transition from the mortal world to eternal life. Consequently, the body had to remain intact and receive regular offerings of food and drink.  Based on their burial custom I can conclude now that all ancient Egyptians believed in the afterlife and spent their lives preparing for it. Pharaohs built the finest tombs, collected the most elaborate funerary equipment, and were mummified in the most expensive way. Others were able to provide for their afterlives according to their earthly means. Regardless of their wealth, however, they all expected the afterlife to be an idealized version of their earthly existence.

Notable Egyptian’s  Burial Customs

Ancient Egyptian burial custom is more notable as compare to other groups or civilizations existed. Though, we all know that it has also similarity to other like for example to the Chinese burial tradition of burying important things like porcelain and replica of important possession with the dead but remain their customs never outdid.

The religion of the Ancient Egyptians was extremely important to them and their belief in various gods and goddesses were fundamental to their religion. That is why it also reflected to their burial customs. Let me explain their connection to the three burial customs that I selected: the mummification, food and drink offering and inscribing figure and writing in the coffin.

Mummification is the process of preserving the dead to remain intact to give a soul use of its body in the afterlife. The Egyptians believed that the soul were perishable and therefore at great risk. The tomb, the process of mummification, rituals and magic spells promoted the well-being, and ensured the preservation, of the dead and the elements of the soul called the Ka, Ba and Ahk.

Food and drink offering was also important to them because they worshipped their dead - deceased family members that became Akh. Akh (meaning "effective being"), had the power to affect the living. They could do harm to people (like give sicknesses) or good (like influence the Gods in their favor). The dead only became Akh if they had proper funerals and their living family made daily offerings to them. These family members would then worship the dead and ask for their support and help. Therefore, they  do this to make sure that their dead relatives will turned to Akh.

Finally, inscribing figure and writing in the coffin was also important to them to protect the deceased on his or her dangerous journey to the underworld. As mentioned earlier the writing depicts the death of Osiris and spells to protect the deceased on his or her dangerous journey to the underworld.

To generalize, the burial customs of ancient Egyptian has really connection to their belief and religion. I hope it helps you to understand and appreciate now their customs.