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Chapter 7 pg 51-52

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The methods of embalming, or treating the dead body, that the ancient Egyptians used is called mummification. Using special processes, the Egyptians removed all moisture from the body, leaving only a dried form that would not easily decay. It was important in their religion to preserve the dead body in as life-like a manner as possible. So successful were they that today we can view the mummified body of an Egyptian and have a good idea of what he or she looked like in life, 3,000 years ago.

Mummification was practiced throughout most of early Egyptian history. The earliest mummies from prehistoric times probably were accidental. By chance, dry sand and air (since Egypt has almost no measurable rainfall) preserved some bodies buried in shallow pits dug into the sand. About 2600 BCE, during the Fourth and Fifth Dynasties, Egyptians probably began to mummify the dead intentionally. The practice continued and developed for well over 2,000 years, into the Roman Period (ca. 30 BCE-CE 364). Within any one period the quality of the mummification varied, depending on the price paid for it. The best prepared and preserved mummies are from the Eighteenth through the Twentieth Dynasties of the New Kingdom (ca. 1570-1075 BCE) and include those of Tutankhamen and other well-known pharaohs. It is the general process of this period that shall be described here.

Mummification Process

The mummification process took seventy days. Special priests worked as embalmers, treating and wrapping the body. Beyond knowing the correct rituals and prayers to be performed at various stages, the priests also needed a detailed knowledge of human anatomy. The first step in the process was the removal of all internal parts that might decay rapidly. The brain was removed by carefully inserting special hooked instruments up through the nostrils in order to pull out bits of brain tissue. It was a delicate operation, one which could easily disfigure the face. The embalmers then removed the organs of the abdomen and chest through a cut usually made on the left side of the abdomen. They left only the heart in place, believing it to be the center of a person's being and intelligence. The other organs were preserved separately, with the stomach, liver, lungs, and intestines placed in special boxes or jars today called canopic jars. These were buried with the mummy. In later mummies, the organs were treated, wrapped, and replaced within the body. Even so, unused canopic jars continued to be part of the burial ritual.

The embalmers next removed all moisture from the body. This they did by covering the body with natron, a type of salt which has great drying properties, and by placing additional natron packets inside the body. When the body had dried out completely, embalmers removed the internal packets and lightly washed the natron off the body. The result was a very dried-out but recognizable human form. To make the mummy seem even more life-like, sunken areas of the body were filled out with linen and other materials and false eyes were added.

Next the wrapping began. Each mummy needed hundreds of yards of linen. The priests carefully wound the long strips of linen around the body, sometimes even wrapping each finger and toe separately before wrapping the entire hand or foot. In order to protect the dead from mishap, amulets were placed among the wrappings and prayers and magical words written on some of the linen strips. Often the priests placed a mask of the person's face between the layers of head bandages. At several stages the form was coated with warm resin and the wrapping resumed once again. At last, the priests wrapped the final cloth or shroud in place and secured it with linen strips. The mummy was complete. The priests preparing the mummy were not the only ones busy during this time. Although the tomb preparation usually had begun long before the person's actual death, now there was a deadline, and craftsmen, workers, and artists worked quickly. There was much to be placed in the tomb that a person would need in the Afterlife. Furniture and statuettes were readied; wall paintings of religious or daily scenes were prepared; and lists of food or prayers finished. Through a magical process, these models, pictures, and lists would become the real thing when needed in the Afterlife. Everything was now ready for the funeral.

As part of the funeral, priests performed special religious rites at the tomb's entrance. The most important part of the ceremony was called the "Opening of the Mouth." A priest touched various parts of the mummy with a special instrument to "open" those parts of the body to the senses enjoyed in life and needed in the Afterlife. By touching the instrument to the mouth, the dead person could now speak and eat. He was now ready for his journey to the Afterlife. The mummy was placed in his coffin, or coffins, in the burial chamber and the entrance sealed up.

Such elaborate burial practices might suggest that the Egyptians were preoccupied with thoughts of death. On the contrary, they began early to make plans for their death because of their great love of life. They could think of no life better than the present, and they wanted to be sure it would continue after death.

But why preserve the body? The Egyptians believed that the mummified body was the home for this soul or spirit. If the body was destroyed, the spirit might be lost. The idea of "spirit" was complex involving really three spirits: the ka, ba, and akh. The ka, a "double" of the person, would remain in the tomb and needed the offerings and objects there. The ba, or "soul", was free to fly out of the tomb and return to it. And it was the akh, perhaps translated as "spirit", which had to travel through the Underworld to the Final Judgment and entrance to the Afterlife. To the Egyptian, all three were essential.

Who Was Mummified

After death, the pharaohs of Egypt usually were mummified and buried in elaborate tombs. Members of the nobility and officials also often received the same treatment, and occasionally, common people. However, the process was an expensive one, beyond the means of many.

For religious reasons, some animals were also mummified. The sacred bulls from the early dynasties had their own cemetery at Sakkara. Baboons, cats, birds, and crocodiles, which also had great religious significance, were sometimes mummified, especially in the later dynasties.

The Study of Mummies Today

Ancient writers, modern scientists, and the mummies themselves all help us better understand the Egyptian mummification process and the culture in which it existed. Much of what we know about the actual process is based on the writings of early historians such as Herodotus who carefully recorded the process during his travels to Egypt around 450 BCE. Present-day archaeologists and other specialists are adding to this knowledge. The development of x-rays now makes it possible to x-ray mummies without destroying the elaborate outer wrappings. By studying the x-rays or performing autopsies on unwrapped bodies, experts are learning more about diseases suffered by the Egyptians and their medical treatment. A better idea of average height and life span comes from studying the bones. By learning their age at death, the order and dates of the Egyptian kings becomes a little clearer. Even ties of kinship in the royal line can be suggested by the striking similarities or dissimilarities in the skulls of pharaohs that followed one another. Dead now for thousands of years, the mummy continues to speak to us.
Websites and Books on Ancient Egypt, 2012 (PDF)
Anthropology Outreach Office, Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History

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Egyptian Mummies | Smithsonian Institution

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The methods of embalming, or treating the dead body, that the ancient Egyptians used is called mummification.... Learn more

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Chapters: 3, 4, 8, 25

Pages: 17, 21, 88, 205

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Chapter 5 pg 37

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Chapter 13(pg.95-97)

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Pages: 13-14 and 81-82

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Chapter 7. Bottom of 51 and 52.

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Page 211

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The snowball symbolizes purity and innocence. When Holden refuses to throw the snowball, it's because he doesn't want to move forward or leave his innocence behind. The snowball can also represent Allie's death and how Holden doesn't want to accept the fact that Allie is gone and move forward. Allie dies of leukemia, which relates to white cells (snow).

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This symbolizes Allie's death. Holden sees the ducks when he is in the bus, and he wonders what happens to the ducks on Winter (either they go another way or freeze in place). Winter is related to death so what Holden is really wondering is where Allie is. That's why he asks the bus driver what happens to the ducks after winter comes

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Pages: 173-174

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Pages: 119-121

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Chapter 3 (pages 17-18)

Chapter 8 (page 53)

Chapter 12 (pages 88-90)

Chapter 16 (page 122)

Chapter 20 (pages 212-214)

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Chapter 16 pg 116

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Holden walks through the snow before he can catch a ride on the bus. Before boarding Holden spends his time making a snowball, made of pure, white snow. The fact that the snowball and surrounding snow is white is important as the color white represents purity in the book. So as Holden makes a snowball and holds onto it, that is him trying to hold onto his purity. Holden then tries to board the bus with his purity, but the driver tells him to leave it. Children are often thought of as the most pure things imaginable, so in this case, not only does the snowball represent his purity, but his childhood, and his hopes to hold onto it forever. Holden is forced to leave the snowball behind to board the bus, and with the snowball is left his purity and hopes of staying a child forever.

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Chapter 17

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Chapter 23

Pages 187 - 189

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Rain- p.g. 212

Tears- p.g. 179

Skates- p.g. 52

Ducks- p.g 82,83

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Chapter 16 Pg 121-122

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Page 38, Page 77

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This story uses ducks quite frequently to show the delusion that Holden has masked his grief from his brother's passing. He uses the ducks to show that he regrets not being able to say goodbye.

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Chapter 25 (pg.211-212)

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Chapter 3-25 Holden's red hunting hat,

Chapter 16 the Museum of Natural History,

Chapter 3, 10, 12 ducks in the Central Park Lagoon

chapter 16 the 'catcher" himself

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Chapter 4 Pg 32

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Little Shirley Beans (Chpt. 16 pg 114-115)

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Little Shirley Beans (Chpt. 16 pg 114-115)

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1. The Musem of Natural History

chapters: 16 and 18

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The museum mummies (chapter 2 pages: 11-12, chapter 25 pages: 203-204) 

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The museum mummies (chapter 2 pages: 11-12, chapter 25 pages: 203-204) 

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Page 116, 153, 154, 163

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The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody’d move. . . . Nobody’d be different. The only thing that would be different would be you.