History
The greatest stimulus for the ancient Egyptians was their belief in an afterlife. This was reflected in their architecture and most prominently by the enormous amounts of time, money, and manpower involved in the building of their tombs. "Egyptians believed that the soul could live only if the body was preserved from corruption and depredation." From the predynastic era forward, the ancient Egyptians strove to develop methods for preserving the bodies of the dead. Initially embalming methods were used, and later architectural tombs were devised to preserve the corpse indefinitely. The body would be placed in a deep, sealed chamber such as a mastaba. The remains were not in contact with the dry desert sand, consequently natural mummification of the remains could not take place. In order to preserve the remains, the ancient Egyptian priests had to devise a system of artificial mummification.
Read more about this topic: Mastaba
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“I am not a literary man.... I am a man of science, and I am interested in that branch of Anthropology which deals with the history of human speech.”
—J.A.H. (James Augustus Henry)
“Culture, the acquainting ourselves with the best that has been known and said in the world, and thus with the history of the human spirit.”
—Matthew Arnold (1822–1888)
“A man will not need to study history to find out what is best for his own culture.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)