Ancient Egyptian textbook reveals new secrets of …

A survey developed by Egyptologist Sofie Schiodt from the University of Copenhagen succeeded in reconstructing the embalming process practiced by the ancient Egyptians. The work was based on the study of the oldest textbook on mummification that could be discovered so far.

In ancient Egypt, embalming was considered a sacred art, and knowledge of the process was reserved for very few people. Most of the secrets of this art have probably been passed orally from one embalmer to another, so written evidence is scarce. Until recently, only two texts on mummification had been identified.

For this reason, the discovery of this little manual on embalming, called Papyrus Louvre-Carlsberg and recently edited by Schiodt, was key. The manual was recently discovered on a 3,500-year-old medical papyrus that focused on herbal medicine and skin inflammation.

“Many of the descriptions of the embalming techniques we find on this papyrus have been omitted from the next two manuals, and the descriptions are extremely detailed. The text reads as a memory aid, so the intended readers had to be specialists who had to remember such details, such as ointment recipes and the uses of various types of bandages. Some of the simpler processes, for example drying the body with natron, have been omitted from the text, ”Sofie Schiodt explained in a statement.

“One of the exciting new information the text gives us concerns the procedure for embalming the face of the deceased. We get a list of ingredients for a remedy that consists mainly of aromatic substances and binders of vegetable origin cooked in a liquid with which embalmers coat a piece of red flax. The red linen is then applied to the face of the deceased to enclose it in a protective cocoon of scented and antibacterial material. This process was repeated at four-day intervals, ”he added.

Although this is the first time this procedure has been identified, Egyptologists have previously been able to examine several mummies that coincide with the period of this manual and whose faces were covered with cloth and resin. According to Schiodt, this would fit well with the red linen procedure described in this manuscript.

The importance of the Papyrus Louvre-Carlsberg manual in reconstructing the embalming process is that the specification of the process is divided into intervals of four, with the embalmers actively working on the mummy every four days.

A ritual mummy procession marked these days, in a way that celebrated the progress in restoring the bodily integrity of the deceased, representing 17 processions throughout the embalming period. Between the four-day intervals, the body was covered with a cloth and straw infused with aromatics to ward off insects and scavengers.

The Louvre-Carlsberg papyrus

The name of the papyrus, Louvre-Carlsberg, alludes to the fact that one half belongs to the Louvre in Paris, while the other half is part of the Carlsberg papyrus collection at the University of Copenhagen. Both parts of the papyrus originally belonged to two private collectors, and several sections are still missing.

Based on paleography, the six-meter-long papyrus is dated to around 1450 BC, meaning that it predates the only two other examples of embalming texts by over a thousand years.

Most medical papyri, the second oldest ancient Egyptian papyrus, deal with herbal medicine and skin diseases. Specifically, it contains the oldest known treatise on herbs, providing descriptions of the appearance, habitat, uses, and religious significance of a divine plant and its seeds, as well as an extensive treatise. on skin inflammations, which are considered diseases by the moon god Khonsu. .

The embalming depicted on the papyrus was carried out in a specially constructed workshop near the tomb and was carried out over 70 days which were divided into two main periods: a 35-day drying period and a 35-day wrapping period. days.

During the drying period, the body was treated with dry natron inside and out. The Natron treatment was started on the fourth day of embalming after cleansing the body, removing organs and brain, and sagging the eyes.

The second 35-day period was spent wrapping the deceased in bandages and aromatic substances. The embalming of the face described in the Louvre-Carlsberg papyrus belongs to this period.

The entire 70 day embalming process was divided into 4 day intervals. The mummy was completed on 68, then placed in the coffin, after which the last days were devoted to the ritual activities which allowed the deceased to live in the afterlife.