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Why are mummies wrapped in bandages?
Amenophis III

Ask Amenophis:

  Do any modern cultures practice mummification?  
  Were animals mummified, too?  
  What parts of the body were removed before mummification?  
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We are so used to seeing mummies wrapped in bandages that many people think the wrappings are needed to hold the mummy together. But that isn't so. Mummies are wrapped in bandages to make them look nicer. When mummies are dried, they shrivel up and look like skin tightly covering bones. Bandages are carefully wrapped around the body to give it a rounder, more human appearance. Mummies are meant to look like the god Osiris. If you look at a picture of Osiris you might say he looks like a mummy, but it is really the other way around. Mummies look like Osiris. Osiris was cut into many pieces by his evil brother Seth. Osiris's son Horus avenged his father and looked all over Egypt to find the parts of his body. He and his mother Isis put the pieces back together again and wrapped Osiris with bandages to hold him together.
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