The Mummy: A History of the Extraordinary Practices of Ancient Egypt

UK: Wings Books, 1989. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. 9.1 x 6.6 x 1.1 inches. h/b 404 pages, condition is very good, slight tanning. The preservation of the human body by embalming or mummification was the primary goal of every ancient Egyptian who wished to obtain eternal life. In The Mummy, noted scholar and Egyptologist E. A. Wallis Budge presents a history of ancient Egypt and describes the infinite care, techniques, and heavy expense that went into mummifying a body. With this book he helps us to understand why, for the four thousand years that Egyptian civilization flourished, the mummy itself was considered the most important of objects. The cult of mummification began when local authorities attempted to curb the then-widespread practice of cannibalism; the religious cult of Osiris offered reincarnation to the pure soul whose mortal remains were perfectly preserved and interred in secure and luxurious surroundings. Several thousand years later, an entire civilization had been built upon the mummy and its attendant trappings. Today we can see mummies on display in museums, and now, through reading The Mummy, we can understand the history and culture that led to their creation. Budge covers Egyptian chronology and Dynasties; Egyptian history and language: the deciphering of the Rosetta stone and the subsequent unveiling of Egyptian literature; funerals; methods of mummifying; mummy cloth and embroideries; the canopic jars used to store the sacred entrails of the dead; and the Book of the Dead itself . There are fascinating descriptions and illustrations of scarabs, amulets, and figures of the gods. Many animals sacred to the gods were also mummified- among these were cats, crocodiles, hawks, and scorpions. From the mummification techniques used by the very wealthy to more middle class attempts at preservation in honey, to the lowly, desperate efforts of the poor to save their bodies with the use of bitumen and sand graves, this is the strange story of a civilization devoted to the cult of the dead.