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What conditions are needed for mummification to take place? How did ancient Egyptians prepare mummies? What can mummies teach scientists about the way people lived in the past? | |
Mummies
How are mummies able to "survive" the tests of time?
Brian unwraps the mysteries of mummies.
Segment length: 7:30
Imagine that you could step through a time portal and get a firsthand look at what daily life in ancient Egypt was like. For decades, archaeologists have been taking just these types of journeys, and their tour guides have been the mummified remains of individuals who died centuries ago. Even though their lips are silent, mummies speak volumes to those who know how to ask the right questions.
When most people hear the word "mummy," they usually think of ancient Egypt. But mummies have been found all over the world, including China, Europe, Peru, and Mexico. In fact, many mummies have formed naturally without any human preparation at all.
For mummification to occur, all water must be removed from the body. Little or no decom-position from bacterial action can take place. As you might expect, most mummies have been discovered in desert environments. But they have also been found in peat bogs, where the water is extremely acid and has little or no oxygen, and in the tundra, where individuals have become trapped in glacial ice. In both environments, bacteria cannot break down the body tissue. Some scientists argue whether "bog men" and "ice men" are true mummies, but these bodies still can reveal a great deal about the world they lived in.
The earliest Egyptian mummies date back to around 3200 B.C. By interpreting the text on the walls of tombs, scientists have learned that the mummification process evolved over time. In early days, preparers would simply treat the body by covering it with a natural salt, called natron (now called baking soda), to help dry it out, and then wrap it in bandages soaked in a type of resin. By about 1500 B.C., the art of mummification reached its peak. Before treating the body, morticians would remove the brain and many vital organs. Then they would pack the abdominal cavity with natron, sand, or sawdust and immerse the body in more natron for about 40 days. After that, the body was washed, repacked with spices and more natron, and wrapped in bandages. The whole process took about 70 days.
People were often buried with food, tools, jewelry, clothes, and even pets. By studying these artifacts and using modern-day clinical analysis on the mummies, scientists have unlocked many mysteries about diet, health, and even grooming habits. With the help of CAT scans, X rays, MRIs, and other clinical techniques, these silent sentries of past civilizations tell us much about how they lived.
Connections
1. Some believe that opening tombs to study mummies shows disrespect for the dead. Others feel that it is justified for the valuable inform-ation it reveals. Does the need for scientific knowledge outweigh the rights of the dead?
archaeologist individual who studies past human
cultures
bog stagnant pond of oxygen-poor water with low
pH
CAT scan computerized axial tomography; imaging
technology used to view soft and hard tissue in the human body
MRI magnetic resonance imaging; imaging technology
based on magnetic fields and used to view soft tissue in the human body
mummy body whose skin and soft-tissue remains
are preserved
natron naturally occurring salt (sodium carbonate)
used by ancient Egyptians to dry and preserve mummies
X ray imaging technology used to view the hard
tissue (bones) in a body
Salt of the Earth
Discover how you can make your own mummy.
Have you ever wondered why every time you eat salty foods, you get thirsty? Or why fresh vegetables tend to shrivel up when you sprinkle salt on them? The answer is simple. Salt is a desiccant-it helps remove water from things, including human bodies. In this activity, you will experiment with different salt compounds and discover which makes the best mummified apple.
Materials
Questions
1. Which compound would seem to work best at making an apple mummy?
2. Would you have achieved the same results if you used a whole, unpeeled
apple? Try it and find out.
3. What was the point of leaving one of the apple slices in a cup without
any salt at all?
4. Where did the moisture in the slices go? How could you confirm this?
Salts and special drying solutions played important roles in preserving
mummies, but they also served another purpose. Before refrigerators and
freezers, people had to preserve food by pickling, drying, salting, and
smoking. Visit a local food store and see how many foods you can find that
have been preserved the same way as mummies. Try your hand at drying different
fruits. How do the textures and tastes compare?
Find out how hard it is to reconstruct pottery at an archaeological site.
Assemble five or six old clay flower pots and decorate them on the outside
with either magic marker or paint. Try to make each design distinctive.
Now, place all the pots into a large paper bag and close the top. With
a hammer, gently bang on the pots inside the bag until they are all broken
into pieces. Next, shake the bag several times and dump out half the pieces.
Using white glue, try to reassemble as many of the original pots as you
can.
How do you look inside something without opening it up? This is a problem
that archaeologists face every time they find a new mummy. To get an idea
of how tough this really is, try the following activity. Take an old shoe
box with a lid and have a friend place a "mystery object" inside.
Tape the lid closed and try to figure out what's inside by sliding it back
and forth, shining a light in it, tapping on it with a pencil, etc. The
only thing you can't do is open it up and look inside!
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Made possible by a grant from 3M.
Educational materials developed with the National Science Teachers Association.
