TOPIC : CONCEPT OF LIFE AFTER DEATH IN ANCIENT EGYPTIAN

CIVILIZATION AND USE OF BURIAL MASKS

Among the various civilizations on earth, the ancient Egyptian civilization

had its own fame, glory and an element of mystery. They have been
renowned for their ideologies, beliefs, rituals, concepts, innovation and
architecture. I found their concept of life after death very mystical and
was more curious to know about it.
The ancient Egyptians believed in immortality and the concept that life
continues even after the body is dead. The afterlife was very important in
their religion and this belief system is very ancient. They regarded death
as a temporary interruption in the life and believed that the soul will come
back to the body to provide the life back to it. They used to practise an
art of preserving the body, which is called mummification in a hope that
the dead would eventually revive. They believed that when they died,
they would make a journey to another world where they would need a
new life of complete bliss.
The ancient Egyptians believed that their death would lead them to the
dark and terrifying place called the Underworld. To survive this
underworld, one would need the Book of the Dead, a scroll that was
buried inside the sarcophagus, i.e the ancient Egyptian coffin carved with
various symbol, pictures, scripts and hieroglyphcs, with the deceased. It
constituted a collection of spells, charms, passwords, numbers and
magical formulas that were intended to guide the dead body through the
various trials that they would encounter in their afterlife. After going
through the journey of Underworld, the deceased would have to face
his/her day of judgement at the Hall of the Two Truths. Here, Anubis,
the god of the dead would lead the dead to the Hall of the Two Truths,
where the dead would face and would stand in front of 42 judges and
gods. Thereafter, the dead was taken to a set of scales, where his or her
heart, which contains the deeds of their lifetime, would be weighed
against the Feather of the Truth. Based on the results, the fate of the
dead would then be decided. If the deeds were lighter than the Feather of
the Truth, it would mean entrance into the perfect afterlife and on the
other hand, if the deeds were heavier, the dead would be sent to the
Devourer of the dead, i.e the Great Swallower. Following the ordeal of the
Hall of the Two Truths, the deceased was then welcomed by Osiris into
the Egyptian afterlife. The Pharoah would join with the Gods and others
would enter the everlasting paradise. The afterlife was observed as a

place of complete bliss, joy and peace. It was considered a perfect

existence in an ideal version of Egypt. In this ideal land, the deceased
met all his ancestors and the departed loved ones. He continued working
in the role he had undertaken before his/her death. But now, he would
have to face no hardships, his life would be easy and full of joy and
happiness.
The ancient Egyptians also had a strong belief in their concept of
resurrection. The basis for this concept is found in the myth of Isis and
Osiris. They were both husband and wife and also brother and sister.
Seth, the evil brother had killed Osiris and had sealed his body in a casket
and threw it into the river Nile. Isis, his sister and wife, somehow
recovered his body and brought it back for a proper burial in Egypt. Then,
Seth had rediscovered the grave and had cut the body into fourteen
pieces. The penis was cut and thrown back to river Nile, where it was
eaten by the fishes. Isis, found all the thirteen pieces as penis went
missing. She reassembled all the thirteen pieces and put an artificial penis
so that the body gets completed and this brought Osiris back to life. Then,
Osiris went to become the powerful ruler of the next world. This led all
the Egyptians to believe that preservation of body is important for
resurrection of life. Hence they started to mummify the body and the
missing body parts would be replaced with artificial ones to complete the
resurrection process.
The mummification process begins immediately after the death of the
person and is a 70 day long process. The process of mummification is
divided into two stages, the embalming process and then the wrapping of
the body. In the embalming process, firstly, the dead body is taken to a
holy tent called Ibu which is also called The Place of Purification.
There, the embalmers wash the dead body with good smelling wine and
rinse it with water from river Nile. After this, one of the embalmers makes
a deep cut on the left side of the body near the abdomen region to
remove the internal organs out. These are important to be removed as
they tend to decompose first. The four main internal organs which are
removed are liver, lungs, stomach and intestines. They are washed and
packed in natron to help them dry out. The heart is not taken out in this
process as it has to play a major role in the afterlife and in the Hall of the
Two Truths process where the deeds of the entire lifetime are compared
with the feather of the life in terms of weight. These internal organs are
then placed in canopic jars, which are believed to protect them. These
jars are made with heads of the specific gods which will protect the
organs for the afterlife. Imsety, the human headed god protects the liver,

Hapy, the god with baboon head takes care of the lungs, Duamutef, the
god with jackal head looked after the stomach, and Qebehsenuef, the god
with falcon head looks after the intestines. Using a long hook, the brain is
smashed and pulled out of the nose. Next, the body is completely covered
with natron to allow it to dry out. It is important to note that all the fluids
used in the embalming process are preserved and used to bury along the
dead body. This process is then stopped and after 40 days, the body is
again washed from the water from river Nile. Then, the body is covered
with oils to help maintain the elasticity of the skin. Next, the dried internal
organs are wrapped in fine linen and returned to the deceased body. The
body is then stuffed with linen, leaves and sawdust to make it look lively.
After this step, the final step involves covering the body with good
smelling oils and the body is considered ready to be wrapped for
mummification. In the wrapping process, firstly the head and the neck are
wrapped using fine linen strips. Next, the toes and fingers are wrapped
individually. Then, the arms and legs are wrapped. Between the multiple
layers of wrapping, the embalmers place amulets in belief that they will
protect the body in the journey to the underworld. The amulets used are
isis knot amulet, plummet amulet, to help maintain balance in the next
life. During the wrapping process, the priest reads out the prayers and
spells loudly which is believed to help the dead body in their journey to
the underworld and in the afterlife as it wards off the evil spirits. Then,
the arms and legs are tied together and the scroll from the Book of the
dead is placed between the hands. After multiple layers of wrapping, in
the final stage, a cloth is wrapped around the whole body which is painted
with picture of god Osiris on it. Then, another large cloth is wrapped
around the body and strips of linen are tied throughout. Next, a board of
painted wood is placed on the top of the mummy before it is put inside
the first coffin. Then, the first coffin is put inside the second coffin and
begins the funeral ceremony. Then, a famous ritual called, The Opening
of the Mouth is performed, where the dead is made to eat and drink for
the last time. Finally, the body in its coffin is placed in sarcophagus. All
the valuable and necessary objects required by the body in the afterlife
are placed in the sarcophagus. Now, the body is ready for the journey to
the underworld.
The ancient Egyptians believed that life extends not only beyond the
grave, but their aim was to become one with the nature. They believed
that the visible body, known as khat should follow mummification after
birth. The spiritual part of the body was known as sahu. The khaibit is
the shadow. The heart, also called ab was responsible for all human
deeds which were scaled with the feather in the hall of two truths. The

ancient Egyptians regarded soul as ba, usually represented in the form

of a bird after death. The ka which is the other self which used to guide
fortunes of the individual in life. They also followed concept of akh which
says humans transform into eternal objects of nature after their death.
The noblest people were believed to be transformed into stars, thus being
part of the perennial universe.
Masks were considered to be extremely important aspect of ancient
Egyptian burials. They were believed to provide a face to the dead in the
afterlife and it was important to protect the face of the dead. It acted like
a face covering, providing a substitute to the original face of the deceased
person. Also, they helped the soul to recognize the body in the afterlife.
The burial masks were special elements of the burial rituals and were
placed on the face of the dead. They believed that this mask would
strengthen the soul of the deceased and protect the soul from the evil in
the journey through the underworld on its way to the afterlife. An
example is the famous mask of the young Egyptian pharaoh, King
Tutankhamun, which is currently placed in the Egyptian museum in Cairo.
However, it was interesting to note that even the priests, priestesses and
magicians used to wear the god faced masks to disguise themselves as
gods and to show the divine powers. Hence, whether worn by the living or
the dead, masks played a similar role of magically transforming an
individual from a mortal to a divine state. In the earlier dynasties, the
masks were made of plaster and the facial features were painted on the
mask of the dead person. The plaster was moulded directly on the face of
the dead to obtain the similarity in features. Later, they were made of
wood, in two pieces joined with help of pegs. They had over-exaggerated
eyes and smiles as their unique character. Later, in the new kingdom,
the masks became more sophisticated. The masks made for pharaohs and
royal people were then made from precious metal beaten to form the
shape.
After studying in depth about various ideologies and concepts in the
ancient Egyptian civilization, I observed that the Egyptians were obsessed
with life and wanted their life to never end even after they leave the
body. That is the reason, they started to believe that death is a
temporary pause in their life and they will return from the underworld into
their afterlife full of bliss and delight. In this hope, they kept following
their rituals of mummification and resurrection. However, the eternal life
was not guaranteed after their death. They had to prove that they were
worthy enough to get their life back by doing good deeds throughout their
life and passing all the dangerous tasks in the underworld.

My product, the pendant lamp, is inspired from the burial mask of King
Tut and the concept of life after death in ancient Egyptian civilization. The
black cylinder seems lifeless and dull at first and represents the physical
body, khat. I have used black to represent the lifelessness and dullness.
On being lit, the light acts as the life force and brings the product to life.
The light, here, represents the soul of the body, ba which when present,
brings the body to life.

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