The best way to put Egyptian culture in perspective is to understand some of their basic beliefs in what was necessary to achieve eternal life and/or make that life as much like this one as possible.

The Egyptians believed that all people had a Ka (body double) and that a key part of the process of making it to the next life was for the Ka to find and recognize the deceased, hence the need to preserve the body:

A mummy in the British museum. This particular one is from the Post-Empire period, after the Egyptians have been very influenced by many peoples, including the Romans, who will soon take Egypt into their empire.

Vatican Museum

In the over 70 day process of mummification, certain organs, such as the lungs, intestines, liver and stomach are stored in canopic jars:

The canopic jars of King Tutankhamen in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. The alabaster jars are stored in an alabaster box. Each has the face of the pharaoh. Inside, the organs were wrapped in linen.

The heart was thought to contain the essence of the person and left in the body, but also dried out with natron. But the brain was pulled out through the nose and thrown away! They didn't think it had a purpose.

The body then was covered in the powdery natron and sat for 70 days. Once the mummy was wrapped and ready, the person's features were painted on the mummy, always helping that Ka and to further help, a mask with the person's image was placed on the mummy. Tutankhamun's was made of gold. And then, the mummy was placed in one or several coffins, each with the person's face.

One of the 3 of King Tutankhamun's coffins. This one is in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Made of wood, overlaid with thick gold foil.

Go to the Valley of the Kings site to see where he was buried!

If you could afford it, to help you achieve eternal life and/or help insure that next life would be as much like this one as possible, you had the tomb decorated and the things placed in it that you wanted to have in the next life:

Strolling through the tomb of a nobleman at Saqqara.

This is a model of a boat (from a Middle Kingdom tomb) complete with the rowers. From an Egyptian tomb of a person who clearly wanted to make sure his business was with him in the next life.

Nobleman's Ka Statue, Saqqara

Vatican Museum