Hello, after dark listeners, it's me, Maddie, jumping in quickly to tell you that you have got us to the top six in the listeners' choice at the British podcast awards.

There are so many amazing podcasts out there, and we're on to be included in this list, and to hear that so many of you enjoy listening to the show almost as much as we do making it.

Thank you to everyone who has voted so far.

You are an after dark VIP club member for life.

But if you haven't yet voted, we would be eternally grateful if you could spare 60 seconds of the time to vote following the link in

the show notes. Please don't forget to confirm your vote in the email you receive afterwards.

There's only a few days left to vote, and we promise to stop pestering you as soon as the voting closes.

Right, on with the show.

Hello and welcome to After Dark, I'm Maddie.

And I'm Anthony.

And in today's episode, we are heading back to ancient Egypt with a recurring guest

to explore one of the most infamous death rituals in all of human history.

Of course, it is mummification.

But first, to set the scene, here's Anthony.

Music First, to set the scene. Here's Antony. In the flickering lights of a silent chamber beneath the sands of Thebes, a group of men stand motionless.

Their heads are shaved. Their bodies are cloaked in linen.

The scent of resin and death hangs thick in the air. One of them kneels beside a lifeless form

laid out on a slanted stone table, the body of a nobleman, once beloved, now awaiting transformation.

This is no ordinary funeral. This is mummification. An ancient ritual that would take

70 painstaking days to complete. It is not just a preservation of flesh, but a gateway to eternity. To the ancient Egyptians,

to die was merely to step into the next phase of existence, but only if your body was intact,

your name remembered and your soul judged worthy. And so, with whispered prayers to Anubis, God of the dead, the priest slides a hooked

...