How Did Mummification Change Over Time

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Over the course of time, mummification changed through three periods. It went from a simple to a complex technical process, and then eventually, during the Graeco-Roman period, to a more widespread but less carefully done method. First, mummification had a natural style in the Predynastic period. A Predynastic mummy, with its lifelike and dry features, soon morphed into a complex mummy that took 70 days to embalm. Then the New Kingdom mummies took a turn into the Graeco-Roman period, with its less careful mummy-making techniques. The techniques of mummification drastically changed over time, starting with the natural Predynastic mummies, moving on to the rigorous process of New Kingdom mummies, and coming to a close with the less thoughtfully prepared Graeco-Roman mummies.

Mummification started out in the Predynastic period, when mummies were made naturally. Typically, mummies were preserved simply by digging a hole in the desert, and then placing the body in the hole in the sand. In Ancient Egypt, the sand had a large amount of salt and heat, which naturally preserved the mummies. This was also so that bacterias and fungi would not erode in the mummy's body. In this period, Egyptians responsible for mummification used a goat hide for the mummy's body instead of …show more content…
Badly preserved Graeco-Roman mummies in this period often had missing body
Parts (Taylor 91). This was because the Greek and Roman embalmers put much less thought and effort than in other mummifications, such as Dynastic mummifications (Taylor 91). On a Greek and Roman mummy, the crown was not wrapped with the mummy. This was for two purposes- to show the natural hair of the mummy, and also to make sure the mummies did not decay during the embalming process (Taylor 91). Mummies rotting was a common problem in this period of mummification, but the embalmers were sure to remove the crown of the mummy to

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