Mumification

Egyptian cemeteries were commonly sited in the desert to the west of towns and cities. The earliest burials were made directly into pits in the ground, where they were preserved by the hot dry sand. A belief in life after death was current by pre-dynastic times when burials typically included simple grave goods.

To preserve the body as a home for the ka - the deceased's life force -the practice of mummification was developed. After the removal of the internal organs — which were separately preserved in four containers known as Canopic jars - the body was dried out using natron, a natural salt. Finally it was wrapped in linen bandages and placed in a coffin. As incarnate gods, the pharaohs underwent especially elaborate mummification. They were carefully bandaged with fine linen, their bodies covered with protective amulets and jewelry. A gold mask was placed over the neck and head before the royal mummy was encased in a series of coffins and placed in a huge stone sarcophagus in the burial chamber.

Notes

1. Do not mix up!

Saqqara is the name for the ruins of the necropolis in ancient Memphis.

Sahara is the world's largest desert in North Africa.

2. Study the pattern: Egypt — Egyptian — an Egyptian — the Egyptians

Some Nationality words are formed with the help of suffixes -IAN, -AN. If you form a Nationality word, start with the analysis of the ending in the noun you form the adjective from.

-AN,-IAN

There is a vowel at the end There is a consonant at the end

1) a) -A is dropped and -IAN is added in: -IAN is added in most cases:

Canada — Canadian Egypt — Egyptian

b)-A is dropped and-AN is added in: Babylon - Babylonian

America — American ! But Laos – Laotian

Cuba — Cuban Honduras – Honduran

Assyria — Assyrian

! But Ghana — Ghanaian

2) -E is kept and -AN is added in:

Europe — European

Chile - Chilean

3. -I is kept and -AN is added in:

Mali — Malian

3. -U at the end:

Peru — Peruvian

3. -Y at the end:

a) consonant + Y (Y - I + AN):

Italy — Italian

Hungary — Hungarian

b) vowel + Y (+ AN):

Paraguay — Paraguayan

III. Reading skills

Ex. 1. Read the text and get its central idea. Among the statements below choose the one that tells the main idea of the text best.

1. The unification of the Upper and Lower Egypt was central to Egyptian ideas of kingship.

2. Much of what we know about the ancient Egyptians derives from their tombs and artifacts placed in them.

3. The people of the Nile Valley took a different cultural path from the rest of Africa.

Ex. 2. Read the text again and note important details. Divide the text into logical parts. Find key sentences in each part.

Ex. 3. Find in the text and read aloud sentences that prove that...

1. ... Egypt became increasingly involved in the cultural and political world of the Greek Mediterranean.

2. ...people of the Nile Valley began to take a different cultural path from the rest of Africa.

3. ...the tombs were modeled on the homes of the living.

4. ...written history began with the list of thirty Dynasties by Manetho.

5. ...the unification of the Valley and the Delta was central to Egyptian ideas of kingship.

6. ...cultural and political alignments often changed.

7. ...the conquerors were less concerned with Egypt's religion and culture than its wealth.

8. ...much of what we know about the ancient Egyptians derives from their tombs and the artifacts placed in them.

9. ...at different periods pharaohs preferred tombs cut into the ground or hillside to enormous stone pyramid complexes.

10. ...complex funerary beliefs of the Ancient Egyptians are illustrated in paintings and reliefs inside the royal tombs.

Ex. 4. List the items from Ex.3 in the order in which they come in the text.