Diorama of Egyptian mummification (part 2)

Second vignette of the mummification process on display at the Field Museum.

From the diorama:The body and its organs are dried in mounds of natron.

This naturally occurring combination of baking soda and other salts absorbs water and is mildly antiseptic. The drying took about 40 days. Fluids from the body were absorbed, or dripped off the slanted tables. 

Keeping scavenger animals and insects away must have been difficult. Sometimes we find evidence of insects or even rodents in the wrappings of less carefully prepared mummies.