Embalming | Definition, History, & Process (2024)

embalming, the treatment of a dead body so as to sterilize it or to protect it from decay. For practical as well as theological reasons a well-preserved body has long been a chief mortuary concern. The ancient Greeks, who demanded endurance of their heroes in death as in life, expected the bodies of their dead to last without artificial aid during the days of mourning that preceded the final rites. Other societies, less demanding of their greats, developed a wide variety of preservatives and methods to stave off decay or minimize its effects. Corpses have been pickled in vinegar, wine, and stronger spirits: the body of the British admiral Lord Nelson was returned from Trafalgar to England in a cask of brandy. Even the Greeks sometimes made concessions: the body of Alexander the Great, for example, was returned from Babylon to Macedonia in a container of honey. The application of spices and perfumed unguents to minimize putrefaction was so common a practice that the English word embalming had as its original meaning “to put on balm.” Generally, however, the word is used to describe a less superficial procedure, the introduction of agents into the body to ensure preservation.

History

The beginnings of the art and techniques of embalming are associated principally with ancient Egypt, where, as in parts of Asia and South America, a dry soil and climate encouraged its development. The early practice of wrapping the dead in cloth and burying them in charcoal and sand beyond the reach of the Nile waters preserved the corpses, which retained form and features for a long period. Those naturally preserved mummies are believed to have influenced the religious doctrines because they seemed to prove that the individual existed after his death. A belief in immortality and physical resurrection was central to Egyptian religion, both to the sun worship of early periods and to the later cult of Osiris. Central to the latter was the belief that when all of the elements that were present in life—soul, name, shadow, heart, and body—were reunited, the person would be resurrected, as the god Osiris was after his brother killed and dismembered him.

Since the body had to be attractive enough to lure back the soul and other elements, the highly skilled and trained embalmers took exquisite care to preserve it. Although it is held that embalming skill reached a peak during the New Kingdom period between 1738 and 1102 bce, the most detailed description of the various methods was given by the 5th-century-bce Greek historian Herodotus. The most elaborate method, at first reserved for the royal dead, involved surgical procedures. The brain, intestines, and other vital organs were removed, washed in palm wine, and placed in vases, known as canopic jars, filled with herbs. The body cavities were filled with powder of myrrh and other aromatic resins and perfumes. The incisions were stitched, and the body was covered in natron (hydrated sodium carbonate) until it dried out, after which it was lightly washed, wrapped in cotton bandages, dipped in a gummy substance, and finally coffined and entombed. In a less expensive procedure, oil of cedar was injected into the body, which was then placed in nitre for 70 days. When the body was removed, the oil was withdrawn along with fleshy parts of the body, so that only skin and bones remained. A third method, employed on the bodies of the poor, consisted of purging the intestines and covering the body with nitre for the prescribed period.

A number of other early peoples also practiced embalming of a sophisticated nature. Archaeologists have found evidence of a high degree of embalming skill in the burial chambers of the prehistoric Paraca Indians of Peru. The Guanches, aborigines of the Canary Islands, used methods much like those of the Egyptians, removing the viscera and filling the cavity with salt and vegetable powders. The Jívaro tribes of Ecuador and Peru took the additional precaution of ensuring the immortality of their chiefs by roasting their embalmed bodies over very low fires. In Tibet some bodies are still embalmed according to an ancient formula: the corpse is put in a large box and packed in salt for about three months, after which it is in mummified condition.

The ancient Babylonians, Sumerians, and Greeks seldom practiced any but the most superficial kind of embalming, anointing the body with unguents, perfumes, and spices. Nor did the Jews employ embalming procedures, with the notable exception of Joseph, who ordered embalming for himself and his father, and further departed from Jewish custom by having his body placed in a coffin. Among the ancients who profoundly influenced Western culture only the Romans employed cavity embalming, not for religious reasons but for the temporary preservation of bodies exhibited for some time before burial. Although there is evidence that some early Christians were embalmed, generally they rejected embalming as well as cremation, considering them pagan customs that mutilated the corpse. Such scruples were sometimes overcome by the desire to have an outstanding person linger on, a desire that was reinforced by the belief that the bodies of some of the devout were kept intact after death as a mark of divine favour. Consequently, some Christians were embalmed, a notable example being Charlemagne, whose embalmed and richly dressed corpse was placed in a sitting position in his tomb at Aachen after his death in 814. The body of the 11th-century Spanish epic hero El Cid, which remained seated on an ivory chair in the monastery of San Pedro de Cardeña for a decade before burial, is also presumed to have been embalmed.

During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance a modest amount of embalming was done by specialists who employed the elaborate Egyptian method. For its return from France to England, the body of the 12th-century English king Henry I was embalmed and eviscerated and the cavities stuffed with medicinal herbs. But during the Middle Ages, embalming was such an expensive procedure that even most royal personages could not afford it; involving, as it did, the use of costly spices, unguents, wax, and wrappings in addition to the prices charged by skilled embalmers. Moreover, religious opposition was so strong and skill so limited that few would consider it. Instead, cerecloths, strips of fabric impregnated with wax and wrapped snugly around the body to exclude air, were used. This method of preservation was so prevalent that cerement became a synonym for grave clothes. The great interest in anatomy and surgery during the Renaissance stimulated experiments with other embalming methods. Leonardo da Vinci, who dissected at least 50 cadavers for study, developed a method of venous injection for preserving them that anticipated modern embalming procedures. One 17th-century Florentine physician is reported to have turned a corpse to stone by injecting the tissues with a solution of silicate of potash and then immersing the body in a mild acid solution.