Ket 1530 – Lola García Ceppi and Catalina Saldaño

Who was Hornedjitef?

His name was Hornedjitef, and he was a priest at the Temple of Amun at Karnak. He died about 220 BC, and was buried at Thebes.

Hornedjitef was an important person:

In Ancient Egypt, priests were the only people, apart from the king, allowed into temples to carry out sacred rituals (religious ceremonies) every day.

Because of his high rank, Hornedjitef was almost certainly given a splendid funeral, and his mummy was made with special care.

It wasn't only people who were mummified. The Egyptians also made

mummies of ibises (birds), cats, crocodiles and gazelles.

The face on Hornedjitef's mask is that of a young man with a golden skin.This is not a picture of Hornedjitef in life. It's him as a god in the afterlife. When the priest died, he was an old man.

This is his mummy mask:

Scientists examined this mummy with a CT scanner, and found signs of arthritis and other 'ageing' problems in the bones - Hornedjitef probably walked stiffly, perhaps with a stick.

Why the egyptians make mommies?

The Ancient Egyptians made mummies of dead bodies, to preserve them and make sure that a person's spirit or 'ba' moved on into the afterlife.

Making a mummy…

Making a mummy took seventy days. During the process, some body parts including the brain were removed and placed in jars; the body was treated with salt and chemicals. The treatment dried the body to stop decay.

The finished mummy was wrapped in linen cloth, and the painted mask put over the face, before the last funeral rites. It was then put into a coffin, and buried in a tomb.