ABSTRACT
Working on the hypothesis that the early stages of decomposition and putrefaction were an essential part of the ancient Egyptian post-mortem (re)-creation process, this chapter proposes that the progression of decomposition was ritually managed in the ancient Egyptian Coffin Texts that accompanied the body of the deceased. By applying a forensic anthropological approach to the religious texts, this chapter employs an interdisciplinary method that revealed that the ancient Egyptians were not just cognisant of changes in bodies of the living but also in the post-mortem body. Further, perhaps contrary to popular belief, not all decomposition was negative. From a religious perspective, the earliest stages of decomposition appeared to have assisted in moving the body of the deceased outside of the ordered world and allowed the deceased to rejoin, temporally, with the primordial waters of creation. This chapter highlights, in particular, the positive associations attached to the release of fluids from the cranio-facial region in the Coffin Texts. Efflux and putrefactive fluids that flow forth from the deceased’s facial region may indeed relate to the earliest release of putrefactive fluids during the early decomposition stage. These fluids are considered positive because, while they visually indicate that the person is deceased and is now being bathed in efflux, mimicking the waters of Osiris, the body has not yet experienced any processes that would compromise the integrity of the body. The body has physically and spiritually moved from the realm of the living into the realm of death while still maintaining its crucial form. This recognisable form becomes the basis for the transformation of the deceased into a mummiform divine being. The ancient Egyptian conception of putrefactive fluids can be understood as a process of reconstitution and manifestation.
