the cavity with the purest bruised myrrh, with cassia,and every other sort of spicery except frankincense, and sew up the opening. Then the body is placed in natron for seventy days, and covered entirely over. After the expiration of that space of time, which must not be exceeded, the body is washed, and wrapped round, from head to foot, with bandages of fine linen cloth, smeared over with gum, which is used generally by the Egyptians in the place of glue, and in this state it is given back to the relations, who enclose it in a wooden case which they have had made for the purpose.
Natron is a kind of salt found naturally in the desert and was used even in the cheapest methods to essentially dry out the body, leaving flesh and bones intact. The difference in quality is easily noted. Some of the more economical treatments resemble bones covered with beef jerky, while some of the royal mummies are astoundingly well preserved. The face of the New Kingdom pharaoh, Seti I, for example, resembles a peacefully sleeping man, even though heâs been ânappingâ for over three thousand years now. His son, the great warrior pharaoh Rameses II, also retains a regal composureâand a head of curly reddish hair.
Apart from humans, the Egyptians also mummified millions of animals considered sacred due to their associations with deities, including crocodiles, certain species of fish and birds, baboons, and the ever-popular cat. Beneath the ancient cemetery of Sakkara, there are mazes of catacombs containing many thousands of mummified ibis birds, each housed in its own ceramic container. At the same site, there are huge subterranean tunnels (resembling subway tunnels) containing numerous mammoth stone sarcophagi that once held the preserved bodies of sacred bulls.
There were plenty of mummies to go around. Mark Twain,who visited in Egypt in 1867, noted in The Innocents Abroad, in his own humorous way, that they were indeed prolific:
I shall not speak of the railway, for it is like any other railwayâI shall only say that the fuel they use for the locomotive is composed of mummies three thousand years old, purchased by the ton or by the graveyard for that purpose, and that sometimes one hears the profane engineer call out pettishly, âDâân these plebeians, they donât burn worth a centâpass out a King;â *
Public or private unwrappings of exported mummies became a popular form of entertainment in the nineteenth century. Wrappings were cut and a body was exposed for the awe and wonderment of the audience. But it wasnât all spectacle. The dissections were often conducted by physicians or those with an interest in anatomy and the phenomenon of mummification. With the advent of modern technology, especially CT scanning, mummies can be examined in great detail without disturbing their often intricate wrappings.
The study of mummies has become a passion for a number of scholars, especially during the last few decades. In 1994 a couple of researchers, Egyptologist Dr. Bob Brier along with a medical colleague Dr. Ron Wade, conducted what was likely the first authentic Egyptian mummification in two millennia. With the procedures outlined by Herodotus and other details derived from the study of ancient specimens, a body âdonated to scienceâ was prepared in the traditional fashion and then covered in natron.The experiment provided a lot of insight and, when periodically checked, the corpseâs long-term preservation appears likely.
I recall the first time I ever saw a mummy. It was on display in a small glass case in the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. I was there to see the dinosaurs, but what young boy couldnât resist taking a look at such a spooky side attraction? His name was Pu, and he lived during the time the Greeks ruled Egypt, about two thousand years ago. He, too, had been purchased in Egypt many decades ago and brought to America.
Puâs face and toes
Natron is a kind of salt found naturally in the desert and was used even in the cheapest methods to essentially dry out the body, leaving flesh and bones intact. The difference in quality is easily noted. Some of the more economical treatments resemble bones covered with beef jerky, while some of the royal mummies are astoundingly well preserved. The face of the New Kingdom pharaoh, Seti I, for example, resembles a peacefully sleeping man, even though heâs been ânappingâ for over three thousand years now. His son, the great warrior pharaoh Rameses II, also retains a regal composureâand a head of curly reddish hair.
Apart from humans, the Egyptians also mummified millions of animals considered sacred due to their associations with deities, including crocodiles, certain species of fish and birds, baboons, and the ever-popular cat. Beneath the ancient cemetery of Sakkara, there are mazes of catacombs containing many thousands of mummified ibis birds, each housed in its own ceramic container. At the same site, there are huge subterranean tunnels (resembling subway tunnels) containing numerous mammoth stone sarcophagi that once held the preserved bodies of sacred bulls.
There were plenty of mummies to go around. Mark Twain,who visited in Egypt in 1867, noted in The Innocents Abroad, in his own humorous way, that they were indeed prolific:
I shall not speak of the railway, for it is like any other railwayâI shall only say that the fuel they use for the locomotive is composed of mummies three thousand years old, purchased by the ton or by the graveyard for that purpose, and that sometimes one hears the profane engineer call out pettishly, âDâân these plebeians, they donât burn worth a centâpass out a King;â *
Public or private unwrappings of exported mummies became a popular form of entertainment in the nineteenth century. Wrappings were cut and a body was exposed for the awe and wonderment of the audience. But it wasnât all spectacle. The dissections were often conducted by physicians or those with an interest in anatomy and the phenomenon of mummification. With the advent of modern technology, especially CT scanning, mummies can be examined in great detail without disturbing their often intricate wrappings.
The study of mummies has become a passion for a number of scholars, especially during the last few decades. In 1994 a couple of researchers, Egyptologist Dr. Bob Brier along with a medical colleague Dr. Ron Wade, conducted what was likely the first authentic Egyptian mummification in two millennia. With the procedures outlined by Herodotus and other details derived from the study of ancient specimens, a body âdonated to scienceâ was prepared in the traditional fashion and then covered in natron.The experiment provided a lot of insight and, when periodically checked, the corpseâs long-term preservation appears likely.
I recall the first time I ever saw a mummy. It was on display in a small glass case in the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. I was there to see the dinosaurs, but what young boy couldnât resist taking a look at such a spooky side attraction? His name was Pu, and he lived during the time the Greeks ruled Egypt, about two thousand years ago. He, too, had been purchased in Egypt many decades ago and brought to America.
Puâs face and toes
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