- 1). Construct a cartonnage, the innermost container for the mummy. Soak papyrus or linen in plaster and decorate it with images of the gods, inscriptions of funerary texts, and divine wings to protect the dead in the afterlife.
- 2). Construct a mummy mask. These can be carved out of wood and painted or, if the deceased is a person of importance, formed out of gold. Cover the wooden surface with gesso, a mixture of water, calcium carbonate, and glue that helps paint or gold leaf better adhere to a wooden surface. Using paint and gold leaf, depict the deceased's face as young and healthful in hopes the person will remain in this state into the afterlife. The mask is designed to help the deceased's spirit to recognize the body.
- 3). Construct the anthropoid coffin, a human-shaped container. This coffin is usually painted and gilded wood, but can also be formed out of gold. This enclosing, it was believed, provided a secondary body for the dead in the afterlife. Cover in gesso and decorate the anthropoid coffin's interior and exterior with imagery similar to the cartonnage. Other common images include the four sons of Horus, who were considered the guardians of the internal organs, and images of tools and supplies that the dead would need in the afterlife.
- 4). Construct the outer coffin. This wooden coffin is rectangular and nests the cartonnage and the anthropoid coffin. On one of the long sides of the exterior, paint a pair of wedjat eyes, a symbol of healing and wholeness that is associated with the god Horus. These eyes, which should face east when the coffin is laid in the tomb, are designed to enable the deceased to see the rising sun.
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