Mummy of Ka-i-nefer

Little is known about Ka-i-nefer other than that he was a man 45 to 55 years old and roughly 5´5 1/2". Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives used a sophisticated law-enforcement computer system to create this approximate sketch of his original appearance. We have named him Ka-i-nefer since this was a name common at the time that he lived and since the name means, “My ka is good.” This means my vital life force (my ka) is strong; that is, I live. Egyptian priests made this mummy by removing his internal organs and placing natron, a salt, inside and outside his body. The natron absorbed the body’s moisture, eliminating any future bacterial growth and turning the skin leather-hard. The mummy was then wrapped in many yards of linen. The entire process required about 70 days, but preserved the body for millennia. Egyptians mummified a corpse because the deceased’s spirit could survive in the hereafter only if its body was intact. The mummy was obtained from Emory University, which acquired it in 1921.