ABSTRACT
The processes of artificial mummification are procedures to prevent body decomposition and were documented by several ancient cultures. In the case of Egyptians, corpse preservation was a sine qua non condition to ensure the individual eternal existence in the afterlife. Through the centuries, embalming techniques undergone modifications, with varying degrees of success, but preserving the same religious purpose until the emergence and diffusion of Christianity in Egypt, when the practice was dropped by the 4th Century AD (Mahdy 1991). In modern-day, mummies represents much more than preserved mortal remains, since they are true sources of knowledge about the society that produced them, the techniques and associated instruments, the products used to preserve them, the funeral artifacts, as well as providing information about the corpses itself, such as identification of its ethnic origin, health condition, sex, age, and other information.
