This essay was the most challenging out of the three as it was a struggle to compile all of the possible information about the topic I had chosen: mummies. I specifically focused on mummies around the world and if the process of mummification which they went through was ethical or not. I picked a bit of a challenging topic since there is a vast amount of types of mummification around the world. However, this was not the only challenging part. Judging whether or not a cultural practice is ethical or not is hard to determine. In addition, it could easily sound biased. Since this is only a beginning research paper on mummification, one of my worries was that I could not judge whether or not these sacred practices were ethical or not. I am not experienced enough to make such a call. Also, establishing an opinion could make the essay sound more persuasive, rather than factual and informational. It was a struggle to sound academically accurate while approaching such a topic. To add to this, an informational paper is at a higher level for me since you cannot type whatever comes to mind like you would in a personal essay. The facts must come from sources, diligently picked with accuracy, and must all be cited. Despite all this, I still thoroughly enjoyed writing on this topic as it genuinely intrigues me and taught me much about cultures around the world and in the past. I knew there was a lot to write on for this topic and although I was not able to touch on all aspects of mummification, which would be nearly impossible, I feel that I did a good job summing up major examples.

The examples I used specifically were Ancient Egyptian Mummification, Sokushinbutsu, and the Chinchorro mummies. They are significant in their processes but a general recap is that Ancient Egyptian mummies have intricate tombs with many offerings available for the Gods and the soul of the deceased. In addition, they have offered a lot to our knowledge of anatomy. In my essay I state, “the Ancient Egyptians were able to learn human anatomy and more about the body in general due to the fact that the process involved the removal organs. By practicing mummification, the Egyptians were able to learn to make stitches, fix broken bones, and perform basic surgery. They would record their knowledge on papyrus and pass it forward to future generations.” which summarizes how they were able to contribute.

I also touch upon the process of Sokushinbutsu, where Buddhist monks self mummify themselves in order to achieve an eternal state of meditation. I mention that monks believe the spirit is the main body and they go through practices to try and ignore their physical body. This process shows the great lengths gone to achieve this idea as a monk will essentially mummify himself in order to completely ignore his physical body. As Japan became a modern nation, this practice became known as “backwards” and “barbaric” and was eventually outlawed in the 1800s. To tie this all together I mention the Chinchorro mummies in Chile which are the oldest known intentional mummifications. They have natural, black, red, mud coat, and bandage mummies.

As mentioned before, it is difficult to deem these mummifications ethical or not, so instead I base this on what the mummification has contributed to us. By this standard, I feel the Ancient Egyptians are the most ethical and the monks are the least ethical of the methods I have mentioned.