Once the person has expired, the body was sent to the high priests for immediate processing for the long journey ahead in the afterworld. All the vital organs, especially the lungs, liver, and intestines were all removed from the body. Afterwards, these organs were then embalmed in the same method as the body and placed into four separate canopic jars. Incidentally, the brain was not deemed important by Ancient Egyptians and was removed and discarded by a very peculiar means of expulsion. According to Herodotus, the Greek historian, the brain was extracted by poking a hole in the thin bone at the top of the nostrils, the ethmoid bone. With a long hooked-rod, the brain was then pulled out in pieces until the cranium was completely emptied of all debris.