I was apprenticed to Zham-bi, the chief
embalmer of the noblemen of middle Egypt.
My father paid him handsomely to take me on and I was determined to
become the best embalmer Egypt had ever seen.
I hoped one day to become so accomplished even the Pharaoh would seek me
to preserve the bodies of his beloved Queens.
All Egyptians know that so a person can proceed
into paradise his body must be treated so as to look like it did in his years
of life. Failure would leave the soul
without a home. Demons would feast upon
the soul and the body will rot away to nothing.
For many years I observed Zham-bi, in time
taking on roles such as assembling the canopic jars, helping pack the body in
salt and even holding the bowl to catch the brain residue that had been hooked
out via the nose. I mixed the oils
together to perfume bodies and eventually was allowed to stuff a body cavity
with linen soaked in resin.
Then I was allowed to embalm a body without Zham-bi’s
assistance, instead just his oversight and observation. My father was so proud that day and I was
happy to live up to his expectations. In
total I took 42 days to make sure the fluids were dried out and the body looked
as close to life as possible. I wanted
my first embalming to be without fault.
Overall I was very pleased with the result and Zham-bi
seemed impressed too. Exhausted from the
labours and with the mummy at rest in the coffin, I retired to my
quarters. As I was slipping into sleep,
I heard a noise. Jumping out of my cot,
I ran towards the workshop, fearful thieves may be trying to ransack the body
and steal the charms in the linen wrapping the body.
I saw a figure bending over the coffin, lid
laid beside the base. I was right, the
body was out of the casket. I could see it
was empty. Then I realized then the
figure was the body. It had risen into
life again. No body Zham-bi had embalmed
had ever risen again.
Unsure how to proceed, I watched from inside the
door. The body lumbered towards the jars
and bowls holding its organs. It tipped
over the jars before picking up the bowl containing hooked out brains. It tried scooping the jelly into its hands
then pushing it back into its nose, then its mouth. I decided to leave but knocked a tray of
tools as I moved.
The body turned to me and dropped the bowl of
brains. It started to shuffle towards
me, linen pieces beginning to unravel.
With stains of its own brains around its mouth place, it tried to speak.
“Zham beee,” it said, shambling with
purpose. “Zhaammm beeee.”
Inspiration: Egyptian Mummy Embalming
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