Mummy's the Word! Trivia Quiz

Answer: 3

Mummification procedures varied according to how much money a person had to spend. The cheapest procedure involved the intestines being purged with a clyster syringe of cedar oil, with the body drying out afterwards for seventy days. Secondly, a body could be injected with cedar tree oil after all passages were blocked.

Internal organs would be liquified, and the resulting liquid would be flushed from the body. After being dried, all that was left was bones and skin. Lastly, the third and most expensive procedure involved the process of removing the organs and drying the body. Egyptians who could not afford mummification were buried in the sand. Ironically, the heat and sand dried them naturally.

Some of the mummies buried in the sand have been found in remarkable condition.

Answer: True

Egyptians believed they would find the afterlife "beyond the western desert." If they were buried on the Nile's western shore, their mummy would not have to cross the river during the journey to the Judgement Hall of Osiris. There was enough peril without worrying about falling in the water or being eaten by a crocodile!

Answer: Anubis

Anubis, the jackal god, was Osiris' assistant. He is usually pictured on the walls of the tomb assisting with the weighing of the heart ceremony. The ancient Egyptians observed the wild jackals digging up the graves of the poor in the sand. A story about how jackals helped to conduct the dead souls to the afterlife was comforting to the poor people, who could not afford to protect and preserve their bodies for the afterlife.

Answer: heart

Egyptians believed that the heart was the seat of the conscience. It would have to be weighed by Osiris to determine if a person would go on to the afterlife. Osiris weighed the heart on his scale against a feather. If the heart was lighter than a feather, the person would be able to go on to an afterlife, which was just like life in Egypt. If the heart was heavier, it would be devoured by Ammit, the crocodile-headed, hippopotamus-legged Eater of the Dead.

This would condemn the person to eternal oblivion.

A person could fool Osiris by purchasing a special scarab, and making sure it was placed over the heart when their body was being wrapped.

Answer: natron

Natron is a natural substance that contains sodium bicarbonate and sodium chloride. It would draw the liquids from the body and had to be removed and replaced quite often during the process. Of course, the embalmer would use the natural heat of the sun to dry the bodies as well.

Answer: False

Every single hair, fingernail, piece of flesh, etc. that fell from the body, along with everything that touched the body during mummification, was carefully collected and placed in the tomb with the deceased. If these items fell into the wrong hands, they could be used to work evil magic.

Answer: 4

Each jar was associated with the four sons of Horus and had its own guardian deity. The jar of Duamutef, the jackal, contained the stomach. Qebehseneuf, the falcon, held the intestines. The lungs were placed in the jar of Hapi, the baboon, and Imseti, the human, guarded the liver. After the viscera were dried and embalmed they were buried with the mummy.

Answer: False

Herodotus says that removing the brain was the first step in the mummification process. An iron rod was used to remove the brain through the nostrils. Ouch!

Answer: 70

It would take at least 35 to 40 days to draw the liquids out of the body. Afterwards the body would have to be beautified (fix the hair, apply makeup, etc.) and wrapped. Upon completion of the process a funeral would be held and the mummy would finally begin its quest to find Osiris and the afterlife.

Answer: Herodotus

Egypt was one of the stops on Herodotus' "world tour." While in the past people believed his stories to be grossly exagerated, much of what he said has been proven by archaeological discoveries. We can only hope that what he gave was an accurate, unbiased account of the mummification process.