Length: 163cm
Room 64: Early Egypt http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/aes/p/gebelein_man.aspx |
Gebelein Man
Gebelein, Egypt, Predynastic period, around 3500 BC”
“A naturally preserved mummy in a reconstructed pit-grave” · The man died 5000 years ago and was found buried at Gebelien, in Upper Egypt · The grave shows us the early Egyptian custom of burring the dead · The early Egyptian custom was to place the body to the left in a fetal position (back curved forwards and limbs folded in front of the body), body to the west with the head to the south. · This was land where he had died and where he would be reborn · He was buried with food and pottery for these are things they believed he would need for his afterlife · The man lived in the Predynastic period (4400-3100 BC), which was the time before the pharaohs · In the Predynastic period the dead were buried in the desert in shallow graves · The graves were lined with reed mats, the body was covered in linen or animal skins, and more mats before the grave was refilled with sand again · The contact with the hot dry sand, naturally preserved the body, as the sand absorbed water · Bacteria cannot breed without the moisture from the water, from this the body did not decay it just dried out · The objects that surrounded the Gabelein Man are unknown of |
What does this aretfact tell us about Egyptian society?
The Gebelein Man tells us how the dead were buried in the Predynastic period (4400 – 3100 BC) the time before the pharaohs. The dead were buried in the desert in the shallow graves, this was the land where they had died and where they would be reborn. Death was important to the Egyptians, as they believed that death was just a stage in their life where their body had died but not their soul, and that there was an afterlife for them. This strong belief of an afterlife encouraged the Egyptians to preserve bodies. If you could afford a luxurious burial items such as food and drink were buried with them in the tomb for their afterlife. The early Egyptians custom was to place the body to the left in a fetal position; the body was placed to the west and the head to the south. The early Egyptians accustomed graves with linen (reed mats) to form a bed for the body, and over the body laid linen or animal skins to form a blanket, before the grave was filled with sand. The bodies where equipped with food and pottery because these were the things that the early Egyptians believed they would need for their afterlife. The body was in contact with hot dry sand, which naturally preserved the dead body well, as the sand absorbed water so bacteria could not breed without the moisture. As a result of this preservation method bodies did not decay but simply dried out.
The British Museum 2015, Gebelein Man, British Museum, London, accessed 7 May 2015, <http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/aes/p/gebelein_man.aspx>.