To the people of ancient Egypt, death was only the beginning. Egyptians kings (called pharaohs) were thought to become gods when they passed away. Ordinary Egyptians believed they would spend eternity with their ancestors in a perfect version of Egypt. But gaining entry into the afterlife wasn’t as easy as tumbling off a pyramid. The Egyptians believed the spirits of their dearly departed wouldn’t have a happy afterlife without access to their former bodies, so priests perfected the process of mummification to keep corpses from rotting away.
Since their rediscovery, in the 19th century, we have learned a great deal about the ancient Egyptians and the reasons they left mummies behind. It is commonly said that the Egyptians mummified their dead to preserve the body for the afterlife, but this is an oversimplification of a very complicated process and a corresponding set of beliefs. The practice of embalming, anointing, wrapping and reciting spells for the dead reflects the sophisticated way in which the Egyptians viewed life, death, and the underworld.
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