Mummy Fact Sheet
Mummification Basics
Mummies played a key role in Egyptian religion and culture. The spirit of the deceased could exist in the afterlife only if its corpse remained intact, and mummification was meant to preserve the body. Mummification removes all moisture from the body, eliminating any chance of bacterial corruption and consequent decay. The entire process required about 70 days. Fundamental to it was the gutting of the body and filling and covering it with a type of salt, natron, that absorbed all moisture. Once the natron was removed, embalmers coated the body with a resin that served as waterproofing. Wrapping in linen followed. Herodotos, the fifth-century B.C. Greek historian, outlined the entire process in his Histories.
Ka-i-nefer
The Nelson-Atkins Mummy
The mummy at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art was acquired in 2004 through the generosity of the late Jean Deacy. Although the mummy is in the new Egyptian galleries, it is not connected with the elaborate coffin and funerary collection that is in the same gallery. The mummy and funerary collection were acquired at different times by the Museum.
The mummy was given a name by the Museum: Ka-i-nefer. This name was common throughout ancient Egypt and it means "my ka is good," that is, my vital life force, my ka, is strong and healthy. All Egyptians were born with a ka. At the death of the body, it continued to exist but needed to be fed so that the spirit of the deceased could continue to live in the afterlife.
The social status of Ka-i-nefer cannot be determined with certainty. A comparative analysis of male mummies from elite burials in the Old Kingdom and roughly contemporary workers’ burials reveal that the wealthy tended to be taller, die older, and suffer less from arthritis. Our mummy's age and absence of signs of arthritis place him as being closer to the elite than the worker’s group. The fine linen wrapping suggests that at a minimum he was not poor.
A team of specialists conducted a scientific analysis of the mummy in the summer of 2010 by looking at X-rays and CT scans. They concluded:
- The character of the wrappings suggests the mummy comes from the 27th to 31st Dynasties, that is 525–332 B.C.E. This is partially supported by carbon-14 dating.
- The mummy is a male, based on the shape of the hips and faint trace of a penis or artificial penis. (When elements of the body were missing, they were sometimes artificially recreated.)
- Examination of the distal femur and distal humerus as well as the clavicles and cranial suture closure reveal that the man died at about age 45 to 55.
- Because the head is pushed slightly forward over the sternum, the vertebrae twisted, and some cartilage lost, the mummy stands today at 4'11". Extrapolating from the size of the tibia, one concludes that the deceased originally stood approximately 5'5".
- He wore size 7 shoe (or sandal).
- He had unusually good teeth, with two superficial cavities and all wisdom teeth present. Many Egyptians suffered from bad teeth in part because of fine sand in their daily bread, the result of sand blown into the dough.
- The mummy is missing part of one big toe. This may be the result of amputation, an accident or careless embalming.
- The body had begun to decay substantially before mummification. The reason for this is unknown.
