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Why did ancient Egyptians preserve bodies through mummification?

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Side view of the Sphinx with the Great Pyramid of Khufu rising behind it on the Giza Plateau near Cairo, Egypt. — ancient Egypt Side view of the Sphinx with the Great Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops) rising in the background, Giza, Egypt.

In ancient Egypt, the preservation of the body through mummification was essential because of the belief that the physical body had to remain intact for the deceased to live in the next world. The Egyptians were a practical people who found the concept of a disembodied existence unacceptable; they believed that the soul, or ba, remained sentimentally attached to the physical body and could not survive without it.12

Mummification served as a vital component of mortuary preparation to ensure a successful passage into the afterlife. While the physical body was subject to decay, it was viewed as the necessary foundation from which a new, immortal entity—the Sahu—would emerge. Furthermore, the heart was considered the source of life and intelligence, and its preservation was critical to avoid a "second death," which would result in the total destruction of the individual's spiritual components. Consequently, mummification, alongside mortuary texts and rituals, provided the magical and physical means to achieve immortality.123