Why did the ancient Egyptians want to preserve the body of a dead person

The ancient Egyptians were of the view that the body dies and the soul never dies. After the body is buried underground, the soul returns to the body. The ancient Egyptians thought that if the body was not preserved, then the soul would find it difficult to recognize the body. This theory actually made them go for mummification. Once the body was mummified, then the body would remain intact and the soul would easily find and get back to the body for its afterlife journey.

They believed that the dead would need their body in the afterlife, and thus stored a lot of riches with the body