Egyptian Mummies

Thirty centuries ago most of the mummified bodies now lying linen-wrapped in the British Museum were alive in ancient Egypt. Why did the Egyptians try to preserve their dead for eternity? How did they achieve it? Carol Andrews (formerly a member of the Department of Egyptian Antiquities at the British Museum) answers these questions in a fully illustrated account of how mummies were made, the religious beliefs which lay behind this practice, the ornate coffins and elaborate tombs which housed the bodies and the grave goods which accompanied them. She explains how animals also came to be embalmed and relates the curious role assumed by Egyptian mummies in European culture and mythology. -- from Back Cover.