While the deceased was drying in the desert, his or her family gathered roughly 4,000 square feet (372 sq. The body was then ready for the wrapping, or bandaging, procedure.īandaging was a very involved process, and it typically took a week or two to complete.
#What is natron in ancient egypt skin#
When the body was fully stuffed, the embalmers sewed up the incisions and covered the skin with a resin layer in order to keep moisture out. In some eras, to make the desiccated body more lifelike, the embalmers also stuffed material under the skin in the arms, legs and head. After the 40 days were finished, the body was brought to the Wabet, the "House of Purification." The embalmers removed the incense and other stuffing from the body cavity and refilled it with natron, resin-soaked linen and various other materials. During this waiting period, somebody had to stand guard, as the body's strong odor attracted desert scavengers. The embalmers left the body in the powder for 35 to 40 days to allow enough time for the body to dry completely. Unlike the hot sand that dried the earliest Egyptian mummies, the salty natron absorbed moisture without severely darkening and hardening the skin. The Egyptians collected this powder, a mixture of sodium compounds, from the shores of Egyptian lakes in the desert west of the Nile Delta.
In summer there are always fewer than in winter, as some of the smaller and shallower ones then dry up.As the Egyptian concept of the afterlife evolved, they began to use more and more elaborate coffins and tombs to protect and honor the dead.Īfter the embalmers removed the organs and re-stuffed the body, they laid the body down on a sloped board and covered it completely with natron powder. During, and for several months after, the Nile flood (which usually begins at Cairo about the end of June and generally reaches its maximum in September, often in the latter half), when there is a considerable increase in the water supply entering the wadi, and when, on account of the lower temperature, evaporation is at a minimum, there were a few years ago, when the writer stayed in the wadi on several occasions, 12 lakes1. The Wadi Natmn is a depression in the Libyan desert, some 40 miles to the north west of Cairo it is about 21 miles long, and at the bottom there is a string of lakes, tho water surface of which is about 76 feet (23 metres) below sea level and the number of which fluctuates with the season.
At the present time it is found in three localities in Egypt, two (the Wadi Na^run and the Behera province) in Lower Egypt and one (El-Kab) in Upper Egypt. LUCAS Natron is a naturally-occurring compound of sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate. The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology SAGE ī y A. In summer there are always fewer than in winter, as some of the smaller and shallower ones then dry up. The Occurrence of Natron in Ancient Egypt The Occurrence of Natron in Ancient Egyptī y A.
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