The Brill Dictionary of Religion

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Mummification
(1,307 words)

1. Mummification is far from being an exclusive phenomenon of ancient Egypt. But it is the mummies of → Egypt, along with gods with animal heads, pyramids, and the Sphinx, that have perhaps the greatest power of attraction on Europe. The word ‘mummy’ derives immediately from the Italian mummia (‘mummy’), but it is originally ancient Persian, and denotes the bitumen or earth-pitch used for the preservation of a dead → body. This kind of mummification was an attempt to use the natural desiccation process to prevent the natural corruption of the corpse.

2. The special climate and geograph…

Cite this page
Hermsen, Edmund, “Mummification”, in: The Brill Dictionary of Religion, Edited by Kocku von Stuckrad. Consulted online on 28 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1872-5287_bdr_COM_00297>
First published online: 2006
First print edition: ISBN: 9789004124332, 20051223



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