Mummification: Now For Kids!
Looking for a unique summer activity for your kids? Why not mummify Barbie?
Photo/Inspiration Credit: kidsactivitiesblog.com
Introduce your kids to the historic art of body preservation through a fun craft session. Teach them how to conduct funeral services and memorialization. It’s educational! The perfect activity! It’s also a good way to talk about death and dying on a small and understandable scale.
Full disclosure, I found my original inspiration and the lovely photos above and below at Kids Activities, so please give credit where it’s due (and don’t get me in trouble for “borrowing!”). Check out their post on how they completed their adorable Barbie mummification, then come on back to learn some history.
Super fun, right?! Woooo history!
Who says you can’t take it with you?
Be sure to send your mummified Barbie to the afterlife with all of the essentials: favorite pets, snacks, clothes, jewelry, toiletries, weapons, games, and canopic jars.
What is mummification?
Short story: removing moisture and adding chemicals or natural preservatives like resin. This can be done intentionally, or accidentally. Bodies can mummify on their own if left in certain conditions (extreme cold, super dry).
You may assume that ancient Egyptians were the first to intentionally mummify, but they weren’t. They took it to the next level, for sure, but the Chinchorro people in Chile pioneered deliberate mummification 7000 years ago (2000 years before the Egyptians).
The Chinchorro process involved removing the brain, organs, and soft tissues. The hollowed out body was dried and reassembled, then the skin was stuffed with reeds and dried plants. They put sticks in the arms and legs, then added painted clay masks and wigs. Their techniques evolved over time, leading to classifications of natural mummies, black mummies, red mummies, and mud coated mummies. What sets the Chinchorro apart from other ancient cultures was that mummification was performed on all of the Chinchorro people, not just the elite. Even children and babies received elaborate preparation.
The Egyptians entered the embalming game about 5500 years ago. In contrast to the Chinchorro, the Egyptians reserved the expensive treatment for royalty, nobility, and the wealthy. Their beliefs dictated that in order to enter the afterlife, the body must remain intact. Otherwise the soul wouldn’t have a place to inhabit.
This is the basic step-by-step process of Egyptian mummification, according to My Learning:
Insert a hook through a hole near the nose and pull out part of the brain
Make a cut on the left side of the body near the tummy
Remove all internal organs
Let the internal organs dry
Place the lungs, intestines, stomach and liver inside canopic jars
Place the heart back inside the body
Rinse inside of body with wine and spices
Cover the corpse with natron (salt) for 70 days
After 40 days stuff the body with linen or sand to give it a more human shape
After the 70 days wrap the body from head to toe in bandages
Place in a sarcophagus (a type of box like a coffin)
The mummy’s internal organs were dried out and stored in canopic jars. These jars were placed in a canopic chest in the burial chamber of the mummy.
There were four canopic jars and each had a different stopper or lid depicting:
Imsety: a person’s head guarded the liver
Qebhesneuf: a falcon watched over the intestines
Hapy: a baboon protected the lungs
Duamutef: a jackal looked after the stomach
🏺🏺🏺🏺 ⚰️
Some last fun facts
The brain was considered useless and tossed in the trash. The heart instead was considered the center of intelligence, and remained with the body. Oops.
Over the years, many Egyptian mummies were destroyed for bizarre reasons. They were burned as fuel, ruined by treasure hunters, and ground into powder for paint or to be consumed as medicine. Yes, people ate mummies. Makes you realize that today’s wacky diet trends maybe aren’t so bad. For more about that, check out 9 Strange Uses for Ancient Egyptian Mummies and The Gruesome History of Eating Corpses as Medicine.
What fantastic lessons to teach your kids this summer! I’ll bet they can’t wait to tell their friends and teachers in the fall! That’s some A+ parenting right there. Good job.
Anubis, the OG supervising embalmer!
What do you think? Is a Barbie mummification and funeral a good way to introduce kids to the concept of death? Comment below!