Are your children curious about the ancient Egyptian custom of mummification? Do they want all the "disgusting" details?
It was time for my son to begin his unit on ancient Egypt. We went to the library to seek out books on anything and everything Egyptian: pyramids, daily life, pharaohs, and, of course, mummies.
During this library search, my son came across David Stewart’s You Wouldn’t Want to Be an Egyptian Mummy: Disgusting Things You’d Rather Not Know (Franklin Watts, ISBN 0-531-14597-2). He immediately whisked the book off the shelf and sat down at a table to read. After all, what could be more fascinating to a ten-year-old boy than a book showing the gruesome details of mummification?
You Wouldn’t Want to Be an Egyptian Mummy begins with a corpse: your corpse. How much money you had in life, will effect what “model” of mummification you will receive in death. Not very wealthy? Then you will receive an injection of cedar oil to liquefy your insides, which will be drained out. The mid-range and luxury “models” use the same mummification process except the wealthy get a portrait mask.
Off your body goes to the purification tent where it is washed with a solution of natron and water. After your corpse has been cleansed, you are taken to the embalming place. A slicer priest cuts you open and your organs are removed, soaked in natron for forty days, and then placed in canopic jars.
Your corpse has also been soaked in natron, and is now ready to be stuffed. You are taken to the “beautiful house” and you get stuffed with sawdust, rags, and chaff. Onions painted like eyeballs are placed in your eye sockets.
You are now ready to be wrapped in linen.
You Wouldn’t Want to Be an Egyptian Mummy is a fabulous book that children love to read. It teaches them the process of mummification in such a way that they’ll never forget, using humor along with the gruesome facts.
Highly recommended for librarians and educators. This is a must-have book wherever there are curious children afoot.
