The Ancient Egyptians could crank out one of those puppies in about 40 days; ours took at least twice that long. It was by far the grossest thing we’ve ever done. I can’t even tell you how gross it was. And stinky. It reeked. The pictures don’t do it justice. Husband was the only one who dared to touch it.
A word to the wise….do NOT use the fresh, organic, plump, juicy, humongous whole chicken found in the refrigerated section of the grocery store. Apparently there are frozen ones that are much smaller and less succulent. In my defense, I am a vegetarian and had never bought a whole chicken before. Pretty sure I’ll never buy one again after this! 🙂
Gloves (we didn’t use them–just washed our hands a lot!)
Rubbing Alcohol
Salt (at least 8 boxes)
Rice
Oil (we didn’t use this)
Various Spices (we used cinnamon, cloves, & pumpkin pie spice)
White Glue + Water
White Fabric, cut into strips
Instructions
Remove the neck and package of innards from the chicken. You can mummify them if you want but they smell way worse than the chicken. Ours only came with a liver, which we did mummify. We made a canopic jar to put it in.
Wash the chicken well in hot running water. Pat dry with paper towels. Wipe down completely (inside too!) with alcohol and pat dry. Dry it as well as you possibly can.
Mix 1/2 box of baking soda with 1/2 can of baking powder and 2 boxes of salt. This mixture is supposed to be more similar to the natron salt that the Ancient Egyptians used. Add spices to make it smell nice. (The girls had a lot of fun with this part!)
Pour some of the mixture into the chicken cavity until it is full, then put the chicken into the freezer bag and pour the remaining salt around it. We didn’t figure this out until later, but adding some rice helps soak up extra moisture in the bag. Once the chicken is completely covered, seal the bag and then seal it again in a second bag.
Check the chicken every day. If the salt is wet, remove the chicken from the bag, dust of the salt, and repeat step 3. We changed it the first time after about a week, then maybe 2 or 3 times again after that–far less than the book instructions said to do it. (Maybe it would have dried faster if we had changed it more.)
Sometime while the chicken is drying, you can make your canopic jar(s), sarcophagus, & amulets.
When the chicken is finally completely dried out, remove the chicken from the bag & dust of the salt as much as possible.
If you want, you can rub scented oil into the chicken. We skipped this step.
Stuff the inside of the chicken with fabric, then begin the wrapping process.
Mix approximately 1 part white glue to 2 parts water, then dip your fabric strips into the glue. Wrap the wings and legs separately, then wrap the body. Place the amulets into the wrappings like the Egyptians did. Wrap in at least 2-3 layers, then let it dry completely.
Overall, it really was a good learning experience. We now know a LOT about mummies and pyramids and pharaohs and Egypt. But, after almost 5 months of all things Egyptian, I think we are ready to move on. Rest in Peace, little guy. Rest in Peace.
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What’s the grossest or most interesting project you’ve ever done with your kids?
View Comments
How long did it take?
Did you leave it at room temperature?
OMGosh - funniest thing I have read in a while! I don't think we'll be trying that one but thanks for the laugh!!!
LOL no, I don't really recommend it. Definitely one of those projects that sounds better in theory.
You are such an awesome Mom! What a cool project!
I don't know about that but thanks! :-)
Wow that looks like a very complicated project! The girls are getting so big!
I know.....it is starting to freak me out a little at how quickly they are growing. Where are my babies??!!