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Reading interesting facts about mummies in ancient Egypt and around the world has always been a topic of interest among students. From Egypt’s history to South America’s distant parts, the process of mummification or embalming the deceased was practised by various cultures. What is even more interesting is that each culture followed a unique method to preserve the bodies. In this blog, you will read more interesting facts about mummies that will guide you through the history and mysterious stories. If you liked reading facts about Egyptian pyramids, this blog will take your amusement to the next level. Let’s get started.
Table of Contents
Interesting Facts About Mummies for Kids
1. The word mummy comes from the Latin word mumia borrowed from the Arabic mumiya. It refers to the bitumen used to preserve the bodies of Egyptian mummies.
2. Many civilisations such as the Aztecs, Australian Aboriginals, Africans and many others practiced some type of mummification.
3. Research on the papyrus suggests the Egyptian mummification process took about 70 days to complete.
4. Mummies were also buried with offerings such as gold, jewellery, water, wine, and food to help them in the afterlife.
5. Ancient Egyptians believed that preserving a body would stop the person’s spirit from being lost. Thus, they paid extra attention to it.
6. The process of mummification was expensive and thus, not everybody got the same treatment.
7. The tomb of Tutankhamun is one of the most popular mummies in the world. His tomb survived nearly 2500 years without being robbed or ruined.
8. When Egypt was under the control of the Roman Empire, mummification still carried on. Rather than elaborate gold masks, the faces of the dead were painted onto boards placed over mummies. These were called Fayum portraits.
9. The tombs of important people such as an Egyptian King or Queen took an awfully long time to build. Thus, the construction of these tombs was started many years before the person passed away.
10. The mummies of pharaohs were placed in stone coffins called sarcophaguses. These were decorated beautifully with bright colours, pictures, and hieroglyphs to narrate their life stories.
Creepy Facts About Mummies
1. In ancient Egypt, they removed the internal organs and stored them in canopic jars to be buried alongside the mummy.
2. The brain was the only organ which was not saved for the afterlife.
3. Some mummies were found with tiny mummified foetuses of premature babies.
4. Mummies were also made in the Inca and Aymara cultures. However, many of these mummies seem to have been victims of sacrifice.
5. Ancient Egyptians also mummified their pets as many animals were considered holy incarnations of Gods.
6. Some Buddhist monks used to practice self-mummification by starving their bodies and eating foods that promoted decay.
7. During the mummification process, embalmers placed little charms called amulets for good luck. Each amulet had a special meaning and symbol.
8. In the 19th century, European explorers went to Egypt to dig up ancient Egyptian ruins. They brought back several artefacts along with mummies.
9. Many tombs were filled with small mummy-shaped figurines called ushabti. They went with the deceased to the afterlife as mini-servants.
Fun Facts About Mummies
1. In the 19th century, mummies were used as a form of mass entertainment. They were unwrapped in public displays and exhibits.
2. In Italy’s Venzone town, there are over 40 bodies in a church’s crypt which seemed to be naturally mummified.
3. Contrary to popular belief that mummies were first created in Egypt, no one really knows its origin.
4. Mummification can happen naturally in the right climate such as a dry atmosphere.
5. Egypt is a very dry and hot country which does not experience much rain. Therefore, archaeologists believe that the first Egyptian mummies might have been preserved by accident.
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FAQs
5 facts about mummies include that the mummification process often took about 70 days to complete, their tombs were filled with necessities for the afterlife, the process was expensive for commoners, many tombs contained small mummy-shaped figures as mini-servants, and lastly, some embalmers placed little charms called amulets on mummies for good luck.
One special fact about mummies is that Egyptians removed all the moisture from the body until a dried form was left that would not decay easily.
The word mummy comes from the Latin mumia borrowed from the Arabic mumiya. It may refer to the bitumen used to preserve the bodies.
Hope you enjoyed reading facts about mummies. If you want to know more about topics like this, then visit our Interesting Facts and General Knowledge page!