Cleaning the Pharaoh - A Step-By-Step Guide To Egyptian Mummification For Kids - Part 2 of 12
Updated: Aug 28
Welcome to the next part of our Step-By-Step Guide To Egyptian Mummification For Kids. You can find out what's happened so far in our Mummification journey, here.
Alright, let's get you caught up. We're here in Ancient Egypt and our beloved Pharaoh has just died. We'll take a quick thirty-second break here for you to have a quick cry before we continue...
Okay. All cried out? Me too.
So now we've got that out of our systems, we need to focus. Mummifying the dead Pharaoh is really important (you can find out why it's so important in our quick introduction, here). So let's get started:
Step 2 - Cleaning The Body:
Looking the Part:
When it comes to embalming, the chief embalmer (I guess that’s you!), would wear a mask in the shape of the head of Anubis. Anubis was the god of death and mummification and his head was shaped like a jackal. So if you’re going to look the part, you’ll need to pop one of these cool masks on your head before we start.
Washing the Body:
Good. Now that’s sorted, grab your Pharaoh’s dead body and pop it on a table. No, not your kitchen table. This table will need to be set up in a special tent of purification called an “Ibu”. Then you’ll need to give that dead body a good wash. This could be done with some nice palm wine or with water from the Nile. Or even better, wash it with both! Nile water is considered sacred to Ancient Egyptians because, without it, the crops won’t grow.
Well, that was easy!
But don't break out the party hats just yet. There's a long way to go before our dead Pharaoh is fully mummified. It's time to get into the gory stuff with step 2; removing the brain.
