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It was important to preserve mummies in ancient Egyptian life because the ancient Egyptians believed that the mummified body was home to the spirit or soul. If the body was destroyed, the spirit might be lost. The idea of "spirit" was complex involving really three spirits: the ka, ba, and akh. The ka, a "double" of the person, would remain in the tomb and needed the offerings and objects there. The ba, or "soul", was free to fly out of the tomb and return to it. And it was the akh, perhaps translated as "spirit", which had to travel through the Underworld to the Final Judgment and entrance to the Afterlife. To the Egyptian, all three were essential.
Because in egyptian mythology the body needed to be preserved for the afterlife. If a body part was missing the wouldnt be able to gain passage to Duat (Eygptian heaven) and would suffer for eternity with the others that hadnt gained passage. So if the flesh rotted they would not gain passage (sometimes for revenge a person would remove a dead persons finger or hand so they wouldnt be able to go to Duat)

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9y ago

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