By Michelle HY Low. Published on Egyptological, In Brief, 24th July 2012.
21st Dynasty Mummy Board. Copyright Trustees of the British Museum.
The death of Ramesses XI marked the end of the 20th Dynasty and the New Kingdom, which consequently led to the emergence of the 21st Dynasty and the Third Intermediate Period. With the emergence of this new era, Egypt experienced an instability not experienced in over a thousand years; a decentralisation of political power that led to a gradual but drastic shift in economic and socio-cultural status. The once united land was divided into two with the southern sphere governed by the Amun priesthood while the royal family continued to rule the northern region of the land. Owing to the division of power and a civil war, Ancient Egypt lost control of Nubia and the lucrative trade goods from the sub-Saharan Africa region; Egypt’s kings were now unable to manage the country’s resources. Therefore, when the northern rulers decided to construct their new city of Tanis, they resorted to recycling the building blocks from pre-existing religious sites. Moreover, the massive influx of Libyan and Nubian migrants into the land caused a shift in the Egyptian population. As a result of these factors, Ancient Egypt was forced to become more inward-looking in order to ensure the preservation of her culture and heritage.
In 1939, a French Egyptologist by the name of Pierre Montet, discovered a royal necropolis at Tanis which housed the kings of the 21st and 22nd Dynasties. His discovery indicated that despite the fact that the 21st Dynasty was less productive in its political and economic output, the people remained Egyptian at heart as they ensured their dead were correctly prepared for the Afterlife. The embalmers of this era pioneered several innovative mummification techniques while modifying existing techniques, some of which will be discussed below.
One of the most important aspects of 21st Dynasty mummification is the modification of the Old Kingdom technique of ‘stuffing’. Embalmers packed the inside of the body with mud, sawdust, sand and linen. Two mummies are of particular interest in the development of this technique – Nodjmet; wife of the High Priest of Amun Herihor and Duathathor-Henttawy, wife to King Pinudjem I. Nodjmet is of particular interest because her mummy marks the transition phase of the 21st Dynasty packing technique. Her embalmers padded the area between her bandages and flesh. Duathathor-Henttawy’s mummy demonstrates the evolution of this technique as she is believed to be the very first 21st Dynasty mummy to have had her body ‘stuffed’ to restore its original form.
In order for the embalmers to pack the entire corpse, more than one incision had to be made. According to the Rhind Magical Papyrus, seventeen incisions were made on a single corpse. However, a mummy with all seventeen incisions as described in the Rhind papyrus, has yet be found; a typical 21st Dynasty mummy may have between five and seven mummification incisions. Usually, incisions would include an abdominal incision, used to stuff the neck, chest, back and upper section of the legs; an incision on each buttock, used to stuff the pelvis; incisions on either heel, ankles or between the first two toes in order to stuff the feet, along with horizontal incisions on the ventral and dorsal sides of the shoulders as a means to pack the upper limbs.
To enhance or preserve the features of the corpse, embalmers introduced various innovative methods and instruments. Duathathor-Henttawy and Tayuheret were both found with well-fitted wigs covering their grey hair and when G.E. Smith discovered Nodjmet in 1881, he noted the use of coloured glass or semi precious stones used to create artificial eyes on her mummy. Furthermore, the eyelids, eyebrows and lips were sometimes cosmetically enhanced in mummies of this era. This technique was used on the face of the Lady Tayuheret, whose nose was protected by a nose holder and probably stuffed with wax in order to prevent it from being flattened or distorted during the wrapping procedure.
Due to the effects of dehydration during the mummification process, the cheeks of the corpse would normally sink and both finger and toe nails tended to fall off. In order to prevent this, embalmers stuffed the cheeks via the mouth and pioneered the use of finger- and toe-nail stalls to ensure that finger and toe nails remained intact. Interestingly, the bodies of 21st Dynasty mummies were not only stuffed but also painted; the colours used based on those designated for each gender within the Egyptian artistic canon. Red ochre was used for men and yellow ochre for women. 21st Dynasty mummification also saw the viscera placed back into the abdominal cavity. It was believed that this would grant the deceased complete ownership of the body in the Afterlife.
Another interesting example of the 21st Dynasty’s innovative mummification technique is exemplified in the treatment of an elderly lady, Nesitnebtawy. In life, Lady Nesitnebtawy had been afflicted with badly infected bedsores which the creative embalmers took advantage of during her mummification. They used the bedsore wounds in her back as points of entry to pack her corpse and when this procedure had been completed, they carefully covered each of these entry points with tiny pieces of gazelle leather. As a result of her embalmers’ skills, Lady Nesitnebtawy’s body was successfully restored to its former beauty, highlighting one aspect of why mummification is considered to have reached its peak in the 21st Dynasty.
The mummification of another woman of this era, Maatkare-Mutemhet, a God’s Wife of Amun, highlights the embalmers’ skills. As ‘God’s Wife’ Maatkare-Mutemhet may have been required to remain a virgin or at the very least, not become pregnant. When her mummy was discovered by G.E. Smith in 1881, the discovery of another tiny mummy within her coffin fuelled a rumour that she had died in childbirth. When this tiny mummy was X-rayed however, it was discovered that the ‘child’ was in fact a mummified baboon. This confirmed Dodson and Ikram’s (1998) observation that Maatkare-Mutemhet’s pregnant appearance was a result of the overstuffing of her abdomen, a common feature of 21st Dynasty mummification.
Despite some minor setbacks, the 21st Dynasty embalmers and their innovative mummification techniques achieved their goal which was to recreate a single lifelike entity ready for the Afterlife. As a result, some of Ancient Egypt’s best mummies are derived from this 21st Dynasty era; a period which marks a distinct pinnacle in the art of ancient Egyptian mummification.
Author’s note: No images of mummies have been included in this article as a sign of respect to those who are not in favour of the public display of mummies, and to the mummified ancient Egyptians themselves.
References:
http://anubis4_2000.tripod.com/mummypages1/21A.htm by William Max Miller
Ikram, S. & Dodson, A. 1998, The Mummy in Ancient Egypt: Equipping the Dead for Eternity, Thames and Hudson Ltd, London.
Ikram, S. 2003, Death and Burial in Ancient Egypt, Pearson Education Limited, London.
Taylor, J 2000, ‘The Third Intermediate Period’, in Shaw, I (e.d.), The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 324-63.
Taylor, JH 2010, Egyptian Mummies, The British Museum Press, London.
Tyldesley, J 2009, The Pharaohs, Quercus Publishing Plc, London.
Spencer, AJ 1982, Death in Ancient Egypt, Penguin Group, London.
Wilkinson, T 2010, The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt: The History of a Civilisation from 3000BC to Cleopatra, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, London.
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