Making a Chicken Mummy, Part II

On Jan 31, 2012 I wrote a blog post called Making a Chicken Mummy, as I was about to start my first mummification project. Now I'm putting together some notes for a friend who is doing Ancient Egypt with her daughter, and I realized that an update -- with my notes from all the animals -- is in order!

I have mummified four animals, all bought at the grocery store. If you get your animal from the grocery store, the insides will already be removed.

"King Cluck" in 2012 (Cornish game hen)

"Cluckopatra" in 2018 (chicken)

"Nefertrouti I" in 2019 (rainbow trout)

"Nefertrouti II" in 2021 (rainbow trout)

Speed: Getting a dressed rainbow trout from the grocery store is easiest, and this mummy is much quicker than the others if you're in a hurry.

Smell: Mummies made in the way I'm describing below DO NOT smell.

After we did King Cluck, I continued to teach at Tidewater for several more years. The mummy sat in a box in the classroom, and the children always chuckled about the fact that visitors to our school never knew it was there. Actually, now I'm wondering if some teacher after my time went to clean out that closet and found it and got a shock!

The three mummies I made after I moved to Illinois all rest in their sarcophagus in the Art & Handwork room. No one knows they are there!

Books: If you want an in-depth explanation of the step-by-step process used by the mummy makers, I highly recommend The Mummy Makers of Egypt by Tamara Bower.

If you're looking more for a picture book read aloud story, I suggest I Am the Mummy Heb-Nefert by Eve Bunting. And get some whole juniper berries!

Soaking: When I made King Cluck, I soaked the Cornish game hen in rubbing alcohol first. This is meant to kill germs, and is based on these notes from https://donnayoung.org/history/chickenmummy.htm:

"Fill a gallon-sized freezer bag with water and hold it up to check it for leaks. Pour out the water and then place the hen in the freezer bag. Pour the entire bottle of alcohol into the bag over the hen. Began closing the bag pressing out as much air as you can. Lay the bag on its side on a protected surface and leave it for an hour. After the hour has passed turn the bag over and leave it for another hour. Do this again -- the hen will have soaked in the bag of alcohol for a total of 4 hours when you have finished with this phase."

I did this with both birds but I skipped this step for the fish. I worry more about germs with fowl. I also think that the salt process is enough to kill most germs, and the smell of the rubbing alcohol is too much for children.

Salt: The basic idea of the process is that you put kosher salt inside the animal's body cavity and all around it (all sides as well as above and below). Check daily to see if the salt is wet. If so, this means it is pulling fluids out of the animal's tissue. Whenever you see that the salt is wet, you replace it (throw all the old salt away and set the animal up again with all new salt).

When the salt stops being wet, you know the animal is completely dried out.

Cucumbers: Since the children -- of course -- don't get to touch the mummy while it soaks in the salt, and play with it, and see what the salt is doing and how it is working, I always "mummify cucumber slices" first. Simply slice up a cucumber and put it on a cutting board. Sprinkle with salt. The salt will quickly begin to pull out the liquid in the cucumber and get wet. It's pretty cool and always surprises the children! This helps your students to see, and touch, the process first hand before you do it with a chicken.

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Here are all the written notes and photos I've been able to find from each:

King Cluck - 2012

lots of kosher salt (10-12 boxes)
frozen Cornish game hen
package of ziploc gallon freezer bags
bottle of rubbing alcohol
rubber gloves
9 x 13 pan for the bag to rest in

Some people add baking soda to their salt mixture, but we did not.

We put King Cluck in a double bagging of ziploc gallon size bags. It took two boxes of kosher salt to fill the gallon bag. Hold open his body cavity with a fork to make sure you fill it completely with salt.

Cluckopatra - 2018

This year, my second time making a mummy, we used a whole chicken and it would not fit in a gallon ziploc bag once we added the salt. So instead we stored it in a jumbo-sized tin from a gift of fancy Christmas popcorn. It worked perfectly!!!

(Note: I have since learned that they make 2.5 gallon ziploc bags.)

Jan 15 - remove giblet bag, soak chicken overnight in a gallon ziploc bag filled with a whole bottle of rubbing alcohol

Jan 16 - discard rubbing alcohol, place chicken in popcorn tin on a thick bed of salt and surround with kosher salt, fill body cavity with salt as well - 2 1/2 boxes (7.5 lbs)

Jan 18 - discard old salt and put in new salt - 1 1/2 boxes (4.5 lbs)

Jan 22 - discard old salt and put in new salt - 2 boxes (6 lbs)

Jan 25 - discard old salt and put in new salt - 2 boxes (6 lbs)

Feb 1 - discard old salt and put in new salt - 2 boxes (6 lbs)

Feb 8 - discard old salt and put in new salt - 2 boxes (6 lbs)

Feb 15 - discard old salt and wrap mummy in clean strips from a white cotton sheet, wrapping each leg and wing individually before wrapping the strips around the entire body, add spices and clay amulets and charms during the wrapping, place the mummy in a cardboard pyramid-shaped tomb along with a scroll in hieroglyphs wishing it well on its journey into the afterlife

(tear an entire twin size flat sheet into strips for the wrapping... it takes more than you think)

If you're keeping track, that's a total of twelve 3 lb boxes... or 36 lbs of salt. When children see this, they realize how much natron was actually needed to do an entire person, or even a crocodile or cow!

Tip: For visual impact, I like to keep all the empty boxes of salt and just line them up along the wall of the classroom as we go along.

I never would have guessed that this old Christmas popcorn tin would become an essential classrom item in the study of Ancient Egypt!

covering our chicken with salt after soaking it overnight in rubbing alcohol

the first time, it took 2 1/2 boxes (7.5 lbs) of kosher salt

Do Not Disturb!

working together to change the chicken mummy salt

R.I.P. Queen Cluckopatra

another two boxes of kosher salt go in

making a scarab beetle out of clay for Queen Cluckopatra's burial service

for Becca's book report on The Golden Goblet, 

she entombed her mummified chicken

(luckily, her book happened to include a tomb robbery)

we cut up an entire twin sheet into fabric strips for this project

wrapping the limbs (drumsticks and wings) first

adding charms

and spices

and placing a scroll in the pyramid

our chicken is laid to rest

Becca made a pointed cap for the pyramid, with a flap which moves aside so that guests to the classroom can view the mummy

Nefertrouti I - 2019