Even more egypt

the Egyptians were a strongly religious people that were polytheists that worshipped many half-animal half-human gods.  Like the Mesopotamians, they worshiped a god for almost every force of nature that they experienced, but unlike the Mesopotamians, they believed in a peaceful and wonderful afterlife where the spirit was rewarded for their time on earth.  Although similar to our idea of final judgment they had a god that would weigh their "heart"(similar to our idea of a soul) on a scale.  if their heart weighed more than a feather then they would not be able to enter the afterlife.  The Egyptians also believed that in this afterlife there were things that you needed.  These things include jewelry and treasure of those that were wealthy such as pharaohs, even the preserved internal organs that were stored in canopic jars that were in the tomb with the mummy.  the Egyptians were some of the first people to mummify their dead.  they would first remove various parts of the mummy such as internal organs and the brain.  then they would let the body soak in salts which drew all of the moisture from the body, perfectly preserving it.