The afterlife was one of the faiths of Ancient Egypt. One of the ways they prepared for the afterlife was to try and preserve the dead body as long as possible. They did this through a process called embalming. These embalmed bodies are called mummies. It is estimated that 70 million mummies were made in Egypt over the 3,000 years of the ancient civilization. The main thing they did was try to get all the water and moisture out of the body. It’s water that causes much of the decay. For this, they covered the body with a salty crystal substance called natron. The natron would help to dry out the body. The Egyptians would also take out some of the organs. With the body covered and stuffed with natron, they would let the body dry out for around 40 days. Once it was dry, they would use lotions on the skin to preserve it, reinforce the empty body with packing, and then cover the body in wraps of linen. They would use many layers of strips of linen wrapping, covering the entire body. Once the body was all wrapped up, it was covered in a sheet called a shroud and placed in a stone coffin called a sarcophagus.
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