Gooodbye Foorever We enjoy our time on Earth in the company of wonderful people and it is blessed with the presence of animal companions. Time melds us together through shared events, living through the seasons in a confluence of laughter, pleasure, bliss and affection that crystallise in our minds forming sweet memories. How tragic our time with those we love, human or animal, is destined to end. However, earth’s one guarantee has caused all human societies to curate their own rituals for the passing of those we cherish. The most famous and prestigious method of commemorating the death of animals took place within the ancient civilisation of Egypt. Feline or otherwise, were central pillars of ancient Egyptian society, being integral to their sustenance, theology and language, constituting a possible fifth of all hieroglyphs having origins within animal forms. This importance bestowed upon them from their birth, stayed with them throughout their years of living and even the days after them slipping away into their final slumber. Everyone is familiar with Egyptian mummification, and a common belief that the practice was routine only for members of the ancient Sahara’s aristocracy following their death. Yet, this post-death ritual was not limited to humans; animal mummification was incredibly common. Multiple motives exist for producing bandaged fauna, ranging from honouring beloved pets, to valued ceremonial livestock for harvest festivals, to whole menageries of preserved Nile beasts, from cranes to crocodiles, for the purposes of sacrifice in pleasing Egypt’s phantasmagorical pantheon. Despite the prolific nature of the mummification and it being popular common knowledge in our society, many are unaware of why such a practice occurred and what the transformation from a recently deceased cadaver to an immortalised, bound mummy entailed. The motives lay in the theological beliefs of this ancient civilisation. The Egyptians of old thought that the world we exist in now, both materially and spiritually, continued on in another world after death. However, the only way ensuring the deceased successfully crossed the existential plane was the preservation of their earthly body and belongings. Due to the belief that a person’s death was the entryway to an intangible world that continued our own, the same physiological and commercial dynamics was speculated to persist. Therefore, to guarantee that the deceased was able to continue life clothed, in possession of valuables and stocked up with food, these things had to be preserved and stored alongside their body so they continue the journey into the next chapter of life in the same material wealth they departed our world with. The mummification process initially began with the preparation of the resting tomb in which the individual, who would be in a state of illness at this point, would be kept in after their death with all of these material possessions. Tombs varied in grandeur, size, and material from person to person, era to era, but the architectural design was principally a structure built upon a grave. Interiors were intricately embellished with a myriad of paintings portraying scenes of ancient Egyptian life; cranes by the river, the herding of bulls, to festivals featuring bejewelled dancing girls playing the sistrum, bells and tambourine. Immortalizing the deceased was a dense network of hieroglyphs running through all the wondrous illustrations in dyes of indigo and vermillion. These palatial mausoleums were constructed to house a mummified body. Upon the death of the pyramid/tome’s financier, their body was taken by high-priests to begin the 70-day mummification process. This began with the removal of the body’s organs, accomplished by using specific ritualised methods. The brain was removed from the skull using slender, hooked instruments that gradually removed the brain in miniscule segments via the nostrils. The organs of the chest and the abdomen were carefully extracted through an incision cut on the deceased’s left side, leaving only the heart due to the ancient Egyptian belief that the heart was the source of one’s mind and personality. Following the removal, they were then dried, treated with spices and wine, before being stored within special jars, each with a decorative lid formed as the busts of the gods and goddesses that were said to protect the specific organs each jar contained. The removal of moisture from the cadaver was achieved by the filling and covering of the body with natron, a white salt gathered from beds of dried lakes. This substance wicked moisture away from the skin and the lining flesh of the hollow corpse guaranteeing long-term preservation. This process took around 40 days which resulted in a totally dry, yet very recognisable, human figure that was then slathered in a variety of rich embalming products like tree resins, beeswax, wine and spices before being fitted with jewelled substitutes for facial organs like eyes. Following this luxurious treatment, the entirety of the corpse was bound in linin bandages, some inscribed with spells and covering symbolic amulets placed in amongst them to protect the dead from harm. The wrapping of bandages occurred in layers. Once the body was covered in a single unbroken layer of linin, tree resins was smeared across them. This resin was then left to dry before beginning the next bandage layer. After the body was thickly enwrapped in linin, a mask of beaten gold was place over their covered face, the masks design being either a deified portrayal of the person’s face or the face of an animal. This completed the mummification process, with the body now ready to be laid within the golden sarcophagi surrounded by the wonders of ancient Egypt, to be stored for all eternity. These funerary rituals are far removed from us in both practice and in time. However, a place perhaps equally separated from us in Western Europe in how the dead, both owner and pet, are handled is Japan. In this jewel of the far East, almost all funerals are conducted as a Buddhist ceremony, despite non-religion being the standard orientation of the population. The Buddhist ceremonies begin immediately on or approaching an individual’s death, with a sip of water being given to them to fulfil the Buddhist rite termed, ‘Water of the Last Moment’. It is supposedly common for Japanese homes to have a Buddhist ‘shrine’, think of an elaborate cabinet covered filled with esoteric wonders of the spiritual Orient, which is closed and shrouded in white paper following death. A collection of fresh cut flowers, candles and burning incense is place upon a small table positioned by the bed of the deceased. The passed individual’s loved ones are informed and the authorities are made aware so a death certificate can be produced. The body is washed, orifices blocked with cotton/gauze and special morticians arrive to lay the body into a coffin. Women are enrobed in a white kimono and men are laid to rest dressed in a suit or kimono. Curiously, kimonos are always crossed left over right, yet the deceased’s kimonos are always crossed right over left. Regardless of sex, the clothed body is placed upon a pile of dry ice in a casket, elevated upon an altar, for the families to pay their respects
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