An autopsy, also referred to as a post-mortem examination, is a process in medical science that determines the cause and manner of the death of a person. Although in ancient Egypt autopsy was not practiced in the sense that it is used today, mummification involved the process of an autopsy. Thus although there was no formal culture of practicing autopsy by police as it is done today however their advanced medical practice of mummifying their dead bodies as a part of their ritual undoubtedly provides us with an ancient method of the autopsy.

In an autopsy, the internal organs like the brain, liver, pancreas, heart, lungs, spleen, and intestine are examined and studied. The Egyptian civilization was one of the first few civilizations that engaged in the practice of mummification.

Ancient Egyptians had advanced knowledge about medicine. To obtain more information on the subject, many Greek scholars are known to have referred to ancient Egyptian writings.  The autopsy that opened the body of the deceased provided the medical practitioners a detailed understanding of an injury or disease on the person, although if they communicated their findings to their higher authorities, likely the priests, is doubtful. This might be because the embalmers usually belonged to a low social status and hence the cause and manner of death that they uncovered during their job was perhaps not considered to be worthy enough to be revealed by them. Another reason might be that it would be somewhat overshadowing the priest who was responsible for revealing whether one had died of a natural cause or of any other causes.

How did autopsies help Ancient Egypt learn about the human body?

The autopsy provided an insight to human anatomy that led to several remarkable developments in surgeries and healing practices. That the ancient Egyptians had a good knowledge of human autonomy is proved by the Ebers Papyrus and Edwin Smith Papyrus. The earliest known surgery in Ancient Egypt was performed in 2750 BCE. It would not have been possible to do so had it not been for the presence of sound knowledge of human body, something autopsy could have revealed. Many of the modern day physicians are influenced by the knowledge of the ancient Egyptians about autopsy and medicine.

How did Egyptians treat dead bodies?

While in the earliest times, the Egyptians buried their dead in the dry sandy deserts. But with the Pharaohs finding it disrespectful to be buried with commoners after their death, the practice of building pyramids started. That  required the construction of some kind of system to recreate the climate that the dead bodies were subject to in the sand so as to prevent the rotting of the dead body. That led to the practice of mummification being practiced in Egypt for the pharaohs and the nobles and officials. However later many wealthy families also began mummifying their dead. But since only a very few people were aware of the process and they kept it a secret and the process was a long one involving quite some cost, it was a practice that remained restricted to the upper strata of the society. Only occasionally do we find mummies of the poorer classes. Quite often the Egyptians also mummified many animals who they considered religious. That included bulls, the best example found in the Saqqara cemetery, cats, crocodiles, baboons, and birds.

Mummification process in ancient Egypt

The mummification process in ancient Egypt began at about 2600 BCE during the Fourth and Fifth dynasties and continued developing well into the Roman Period. The best preserved mummies, one of which is that of Tutankhamen, date back to the Eighteenth to Twentieth dynasties of the New Kingdom (1570-1705 BCE). The quality of the mummy making and preservation varied depending on the price selected by the family of the dead.

The process of mummification is present in details in the book of  Herodotus . At first the dead body was brought to a room known as Ib. Then the body was washed in water for three days. From the Ib the dead body was shifted to another room known as Wabet, the holy place. Special copper hooked instruments were used to be passed through the nostrils to pull out the brain bit by bit after which water was sprayed to clear out the left over bits. The next step involved making an incision on the left side of the stomach through which the intestines, spleen, liver, kidney and lungs were taken out. These internal organs were stored in the coffin itself in small alabaster jars known as canopic jars. In a later period, the organs used to be treated and then wrapped to be placed back inside the body in their original position. Then natron  (hydrated sodium carbonate) salt with great drying properties was sprinkled inside the stomach and additional packets of natron were placed inside so as to soak in all the moisture in the body. After this was complete, cider oil and resins mixed with other scented spices like cardamom was massaged all over the skin to scent it as well as protect it from insects. Wood powder, sand and hay was mixed together and used to fill the inside of the body and then the nostrils and the mouth was closed with wax.  The sunken areas of the body were filled with linen and false eyes were added. Then the last and the most important step of wrapping the body with cloth was performed. All these steps from filling up the body to the wrapping up was done by the head priest who wore a mask of Anubis while performing the rituals. He was known as Heri Sesheta and while performing the wrapping up he was accompanied by another priest who read out the prayers and also placed papyrus and holy amulets within the folds of the cloth used for wrapping the body. He was known as Heri Heb. Then the dead body was placed in a sarcophagus.

Why was mummification important?

Mummification was important for two reasons. According to Egyptian mythology, when Osiris was killed by his brother Seth and his body was divided into 42 parts and spread all over Egypt, Osiris’s wife Isis went about looking for his body parts as an eagle. She found all his body part except his penis, and assembled it part by part. The penis was made out of gold. Then steps to preserve the entire assemblage was taken by Anubis. That was the first mummy ever made and subsequently making mummies became an attempt of copying gods in order to legitimise the power of Pharaohs who claimed to rule by divine right as representatives of God on earth. Another reason was the Egyptian belief that the human soul was composed of three souls: ‘Akh’ which could go to heaven if it passed the test that Osiris subjected it to during the course of its journey in afterlife. The other was ‘Ba’ which flew as a bird during the day to earth and returned at night. The most important in the mummification process was ‘Ka’ which was the ‘double’ of the human. Since the Egyptians believed that while the previous to souls were born after death and hence needed no special requirements, Ka was born when one was born and hence it needed all the objects one needed in their lifetime and hence to save it, it was important to preserve the body.

Autopsy on Ancient Egyptian mummies and their revelations

Autopsy that was conducted on many of the mummified bodies revealed the culture, basic lifestyle, and health of the people. An autopsy of an Egyptian princess revealed that she had clogged arteries and lived 3500 years ago. This is one of the examples of the oldest person to have heart ailment that can be traced back to several centuries.

Another study revealed from many of the bodies on which the autopsy has been conducted indicated the presence of calcium in the arteries, a sign that the arteries were clogged. The first scientific autopsy ever conducted on an Egyptian mummy was the autopsy of Irtyersenu in 1825 by Augustus Granville. It was originally believed that Irtyersenu died of ovarian cancer. But with the re-examination of the mummy, it was suggested that she died of tuberculosis and not cancer.

An interesting thing about Irtyersenu’s mummy was that her internal organs had not been removed.   Autopsies conducted on ancient Egyptians indicated that most people suffered from a problem that was related to their dental condition.

A mummy of a crocodile was also found. Although autopsy was not performed on it but a scan provided valuable details on it, so much so as to reveal that it had swallowed a cow as its last meal revealed by the bone of a cow in its stomach.

Gebelein Man

Well-preserved mummies reveal a great deal about the beliefs, tradition, structure of a particular civilization and the culture of treating its dead.  The Gebelian mummies are a set of six mummies of two men, one women and three of undetermined sex found in  shallow sand graves near Gebelein in Egypt. The first mummy of the lot that was found at the site of Gebelein near Thebes in Egypt, was nicknamed as “Ginger” for his red hair, a name dropped later in conformation to the ethical policies for human remains. This mummy was officially called the Gebelein Man for where he was found.

Ancient mummies like the Gebelien Man can tell us a great deal about the Predynastic culture. It can also shed light on causes of death, various diseases that may have afflicted the ancient Egyptians. A recent study suggested that the Gebelein Man was most likely murdered. This was evident in the CAT Scan at Cromwell Hospital in London that the ribs, shoulder bone of the Gebelien man were damaged and there was a mark on the flesh of his back indicating that he was stabbed from behind with a copper blade. Thus, well-preserved mummies and untouched burials help us to know about the ancient traditions, culture practiced thousands of years ago.