“Unlocking Secrets of the Afterlife: Archaeologists Unearth Ancient Egypt’s First Fully Preserved Funeral Home in the Mysterious City of the Dead!”
Hussein quickly found this wasn’t a typical tomb, but a workshop to mummify people, designed with drainage channels, natural ventilation, and an industrial-strength incense burner to ward off the animals.
“If you’re doing evisceration down there, you need air moving in to get rid of insects,” said Hussein. “You want constant movement of air when you’re dealing with cadavers.”
The pottery fragments, which were carefully documented and conserved, only further clarified the purpose of this place.
“Every single cup or bowl has the name of the substance it held, and the days of the embalming procedure it was used,” said Hussein. “Instructions are written directly on the objects.”
National GeographicThe resourceful archaeologists used winches to descend into the ancient funeral home, which was part of an underground complex and designed to provide natural ventilation.
Hussein says that “we can talk about the archaeology of embalming” purportedly “for the first time.” There’s no shortage of ancient texts or artistic depictions of embalming — but archaeological evidence has been rather rare.
“Very few workshops devoted to the process have been properly excavated,” explained Dietrich Raue, curator of the University of Leipzig’s Egyptian Museum. “That leads to a big gap in our knowledge.”
It’s common knowledge the ancient Egyptians believed the body had to remain intact so the soul could venture properly into the afterlife. However, this highly organized ritual took a shocking 70 days replete with rites and prayers on each of them.
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