Egyptians were some of the first people to mummify their dead
In Ancient Egypt, they believed that there was an afterlife and that the only way of reaching it safely was to follow a strict set of procedures to prepare a dead body.
The process took around 70 days.
When a body was being prepared for mummification, firstly the organs would have to be removed and placed into Canopic jars.
The next stage was to remove all moisture from the body.
To do this they covered the body in a powdered type of salt and let it rest for around 35-40 days, or until all the moisture was gone.
After cleaning all the remaining salt off, the body would have been stuffed with linen to plump it up again, and then it was ready for wrapping.
The wrapping process could take up to two weeks to complete and the family of the deceased was expected to gather around 4,000 square feet (372 square meters) of linen to wrap the body.
Once this was complete the mummy was put into its coffin and then taken to a tomb where it would rest.
