Scope: In this lecture, the student sees how experimental Egyptology attempts to answer old questions. I describe my own research in which I mummified a human cadaver in the ancient Egyptian manner to determine just how the Egyptian embalmers did it. The purpose of the project was not to get a mummy but to answer questions in three specific areas: (1) How was natron used in mummification? (2) What surgical procedures were performed during mummification? (3) What tools were used by ancient embalmers?
Outline
I. We went to local sites to find such important substances as natron, frankincense, and myrrh. Natron was the essential ingredient in mummification, but there are questions about how it was used.
A. Herodotus, because of an ambiguous term he used about preserving fish, started the debate about whether natron was used dry or wet.
B. Natron, basically salt and baking soda, was more likely to have been used dry than in solution.
1. No vats have ever been found for its use in solution.
2. It is counter-intuitive to soak something you want dehydrated.
II. Tools of the embalmer were another puzzle.
A. The Egyptians had used bronze knives, so we had to recreate some.
B. The “necrotome,” thought to be an embalmer’s knife, was useless. We made bronze alloy blades—88 percent copper, 12 percent tin—just like the originals. Kmt, the ancient word for Egypt, is the root of our word chemistry.
C. But “a sharp Ethiopian stone” (obsidian) proved to be the best knife of all.
D. Finally, “a hooked iron rod” of bronze was efficient for brain removal.
III. Surgical procedures were also replicated.
A. The liver was removed by making a small incision with the obsidian. Obsidian blades are sharper than surgical steel.
B. We removed the organs, even the liver. There is no Egyptian word for some organs, such as the pancreas, because the embalmers never saw it when removing the intestines.
C. There were four canopic jars for internal organs—but what about other organs, such as the gall bladder and spleen?
D. We left the heart inside and filled the cavity with a pocket of natron.
E. Everyone thought the brain would have to be removed piece by piece with a “coat hanger.” But the first embalmers must have rotated their tool, in effect whisking the brain, then turned the body over and drained the liquid.
F. Embalmers probably worked outdoors because of the foul smells. We controlled humidity in our tent and covered the body with natron.
G. We made an embalming board and left the body there. But for how long?
IV. Overall findings revealed the details of embalming.
A. We left the body for thirty-five days. We found that the natron process—not the passage of time—gave the mummy its unique look. The body lost about half its weight, but there was still some moisture in it.
B. We returned it to the “tomb” for a couple of months, and the moisture disappeared. It was so dry, in fact, we couldn’t even cross the hands in the royal style. The thirty-five-day injunction, mentioned earlier, referred to the period when the body was still flexible enough to manipulate.
C. Our conclusion: A mummy looks like it does not because of the passage of 3,000 years but because of the procedure. Thirty-five days in natron, it turned out, was just the right time.
V. Future research will be done with the modern mummy.
A. Our mummy is the only “ancient Egyptian mummy” whose method of preservation is known in detail. This is the “control mummy” for future experiments.
B. Mummy DNA studies are now being conducted.
Essential Reading:
Bob Brier, Egyptian Mummies.
Supplementary Reading:
G. Elliot Smith and Warren R. Dawson, Egyptian Mummies.
Questions to Consider:
1. What surgical procedures were essential for mummification?
2. How was the body dehydrated during mummification?