Death and Burial Customs

Where did the Egyptians believe that they went when they died?

The ancient Egyptians took many precautions to make sure that the spirits of the dead could enjoy life after death. Those who could afford them had elaborate family tombs.
People visited these tombs to make regular food offerings to their dead relations. In case the family neglected this duty, stone stele were placed in the outer area of the tombs. These often show the dead person sitting next to a table of food offerings. They are inscribed with a magical formula. The idea was that when this was spoken aloud the dead got everything they needed to live on.

THE BOOK OF THE DEAD

Page from the Book of the Dead One spell collection known as The Book of the Dead stresses that all spirits were judged before Osiris. The dead person's heart was weighed against a feather representing maat-- truth. If their heart was heavier than truth because they had lead a wicked life they would be eaten by a monster and die a second death. Those who passed the judgment became blessed spirits who lived with gods. Such spirits were still believed to want intact bodies to return to.
Before the dead could reach the paradise known as the Field of Reeds they had to pass through an underworld full of monsters and demons.
Mummy Case (front & back) In the Middle Kingdom some coffins were painted with maps of the underworld and with spells against it's dangers. In the New Kingdom the spells were written on papyrus scrolls and placed in the tomb.
In early times burial in hot dry sand preserved bodies naturally. When coffins came into use some artificial way of stopping decay was needed. At some periods the process of mummification was used to preserve bodies.

MUMMIFICATION Burial Ceremony called The Opening of the Mouth

The exact treatment depended on what the family could afford. The most elaborate method took about 70 days. First the embalmers took out the brain through the nose. The vital organs were removed and treated separately, though the heart might be left in the chest. The inside of the body was cleaned and packed with scented resins. Natron, a natural drying agent, was put inside and all around the body.
After about 40 days the body would have been completely dried out. The next stage was to put a packing material under the skin to imitate flesh and to refill the main cavity with scented materials. Finally the mummy was treated with perfumed oils and molten resin before being wrapped for burial.