The other day I came across the article below about how the discovery of an intricately mummified Egyptian from 4000 years ago could revise our knowledge of the Egyptian history. It basically says that if the dating on the mummy is confirmed, it pushes back the knowledge of sophisticated mummification in Egypt by 1000 years, which will bring about other revisions in our understanding of ancient Egypt.
Have you ever asked yourself, though, how is it that we know so much about ancient Egyptian people, especially their rulers and noblemen, from so long ago?
Reading the article made me think again about this question and my understanding of the Egyptian rites and traditions. You see, the ancient Egyptians believed that the dead would continue living after death, so they provided all the elements and needs (for the afterlife) of the nobles they buried: the deceased is mummified, he/she is buried with a lot of amenities and other material things, his/her name and titles are also provided on scrolls or wall carvings.
Thousands of years later, when we started opening those pyramids, we obtained valuable information on these people from these elements, and we could also guess their looks. So we knew who they were, how they lived and even to a certain level how they looked. I believe this is the main source of our detailed knowledge about ancient Egypt.
Here is the twist in all this. The Egyptians believed in life after death even in an eternal life, and they provided all the material needs for their nobles for this afterlife. Due to this supply of things in the pyramids, we now know a lot about these individuals, their lives and ancient Egypt. In a certain way, these people are living forever in the afterlife.
The article about the mummy discovery
Paris, October 25, 2021,
Zeejay