mummification

/ˌmʌmɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/

Mummification is an old-fashioned method of preparing a dead body so that it doesn't decay. Mummification was commonly used in ancient Egypt, not so much these days.

Although the earliest examples of mummification were accidental, with bodies being preserved because of very dry, desert conditions, it soon became religiously important in ancient Egypt and was done deliberately. Ancient Egyptians believed that a happy afterlife depended in part on careful mummification. The word mummification is formed with the suffix -fication, "a making or causing," and mummy, from the Arabic mumiyah, "embalmed body," from the Persian root mum, "wax."

Definitions of mummification

1. noun

   embalmment and drying a dead body and wrapping it as a mummy
   type of:

   embalmment

   the preservation of a dead body by treating with it balsams and drugs and other chemicals
2. noun

   a condition resembling that of a mummy
   “bureaucratic mummification in red tape”

   type of:

   condition, status

   a state at a particular time
3. noun

   (pathology) gangrene that develops in the presence of arterial obstruction and is characterized by dryness of the dead tissue and a dark brown color
   synonyms: cold gangrene, dry gangrene, mumification necrosis

   type of:

   gangrene, slough, sphacelus

   necrotic tissue; a mortified or gangrenous part or mass