Hi Group,
I was wondering what you guys think of this idea I got while eating some beef
jerky while reading about mummification. Why did the ancient Egyptians go to
all this trouble? Where did they get such an idea? What was the point of
preserving a body that couldn't possibly come back to life cause they had
removed
the heart, brains, and internal organs? The brain was thrown away and the
internal organs were preserved by dehydration. I think mummification was very
likely an ancient Reptoid recipe for making the human equivalent of beef jerky.
Mummification is the preservation of a body, either animal or human. Some
mummies
are preserved wet, some are frozen, and some are dried. It can be a natural
process or it may be deliberately achieved. The Egyptian mummies were
deliberately made by drying the body. By eliminating moisture, you have
eliminated the
source of decay. They dried the body by using a salt mixture called natron.
Natron is a natural substance that is found in abundance along the Nile river.
Natron is made up of four salts: sodium carbonate, sodium bicarbonate, sodium
chloride, and sodium sulfate. The sodium carbonate works as a drying agent,
drawing the water out of the body. At the same time the bicarbonate, when
subjected to moisture, increases the pH that creates a hostile environment for
bacteria. The Egyptian climate lent itself well to the mummification process,
being
both very hot and dry. One written record concerning mummification to have
survived comes from the Greek historian Herodotus, who visited Egypt around 450
BC. He described how the Egyptians preserved their dead. But even with the help
of Herodotus, many questions remain. Much of Herodotus' account of the
process is sketchy and open to speculation. For example, how the Egyptians used
natron to dry the body has been a controversy ever since early Egyptologists
translated the text of Herodotus. Some translated it to mean that the body was
"pickled" in a natron solution. This technique would require large vats to soak
the corpses in, no evidence to support this theory has ever been found. Instead,
there is evidence of large tables being used for the drying process. But it
has never been clear why these tables are nearly six feet across, wide enough
to fit two corpses. These and many more questions were answered during the
mummification of Mumab.
Herodotus described using of a sharp black stone to slice open the abdomen.
It is assumed this was made of obsidian, a black volcanic glass. It had been
speculated that obsidian was used because of ritualistic purposes. But, it may
have been used simply because it was the best material available for cutting
through human tissue. A small incision was made on the left side through which
the internal organs where removed. The heart was the only organ that the
Egyptians left intact because this is where they believed the essence of a
person
lived. After removing the internal organs, they were washed with frankincense,
myrrh and palm wine. Then they would be dried using natron. After being
individually preserved, the organs are stored in a special canister called a
canopic
jar. The lids of canopic jars are shaped like the heads of Egyptian gods, the
four sons of Horus. They are the guardians of the entrails. The canopic jars
with their contents would be placed in the tomb with the mummy.
A Modern Mummy.
From May 21, to June 25, 1994 A.D. a team of scientists from The University
of Maryland and The Long Island University performed the first human
mummification in nearly 2,000 years. They used replicas of ancient Egyptian
embalming
tools, one hundred yards of fine Egyptian linen, more than 600 pounds of natron,
frankincense and myrrh, oil of cedar, palm wine, and natural resins. The
mummification was preformed at The University of Maryland Medical School in
Baltimore, MD.
Once the internal organs were removed, Ronn and Bob rinsed his abdominal and
thoracic cavities using palm wine and myrrh. This ritual probably had
practical roots as it provided a more pleasant aroma than that which typically
emanates from a dead body. These cavities were then stuffed with small bags of
natron
to dry the corpse from the inside out. The embalming table was constructed to
match the specifications of those that had been found in Egyptian tombs. The
questions of why this table was so wide would soon be answered. As natron was
first poured on the table and then over the body it became clear that they
would need the width to keep the body completely surrounded with the 600 pounds
of natron. The temperature was maintained at about 115'F (46'C). The humidity
was kept under 30 percent. The same conditions as those found in ancient Egypt.
After 35 days buried in natron, Mumab was completely desiccated. The moisture
that he lost amounted to 100 of his original 160 pounds. The drying process
of mummification only took 35 days. Why then did an Egyptian mummification
ritual take 70 days? The answer may lie in the movements of the star Sirius.
Sirius was an important star to the Egyptians and we know that they followed its
movements very closely. The rising of the dog star, Sirius marked the Egyptian
New Year, the beginning of the season of inundation. The time when Sirius
disappeared in the sky until the time it returned (Egyptian New Year) was 70
days,
perhaps the Egyptians equated this astronomical phenomena with the time needed
from death in the physical world to rebirth into the afterlife. Now that the
drying process was complete, the bags of natron that had been placed inside
the body could be removed. The empty cavity was swabbed with palm wine, and
packed with spices, myrrh, and muslin packets of wood shavings. The body was
rubbed with a mixture of five oils: frankincense, myrrh, palm, lotus, and cedar.
The scientists removed tissue samples for biopsy, and the mummy was completely
checked for the presence of bacteria. Remarkably, three months after this man
had died, all the cultures indicated that there was no bacteria present. This
was the point at which the mummification was considered a success. The process
was not finished, because the mummy still needed to be wrapped. Photographs of
the mummy of Tuthmosis III would be used as a guide. The wrapping was
preformed using long strips of linen bandages and shrouds that had been imported
from
Egypt. Each strip of linen was complete with appropriate hieroglyphic
inscriptions. They were attached using a natural resin. In some ancient Egyptian
mummies, this resin appears to have been poured on, covering the entire body.
Observations of this tar-like substance is how mummies got their name. Early
observers believed this resin to be bitumen (tar), the Persian word for bitumen
is
moumia. The entire wrapping process took several days and required more than 6
layers or 20 pounds (9 kilograms) of linen. In accordance with ancient
practice, a heart amulet was placed over Mumab's heart. At this point, if Mumab
truly were an ancient Egyptian mummy he would be going through burial rituals
that
dealt with purification and preparing for the afterlife, such as the <A
HREF="http://members.aol.com/egyptart/glossary.html#o">opening
of the mouth ceremony</A> . Mumab's body is not destined for the afterlife. He
is
now resting in the Museum of Man in San Diego, CA. He will continue to be
studied by Ronn Wade, Bob Brier, and scientists of this, and future generations.

Then there are accounts of Chinese people preserved in a mystrey fluid for
2,000 years. From the sound of this article, the Reptoids would find that the
meat is still edible. Yummy, Chinese food.
2,000-Year-Old Woman Found Preserved In Mystery Fluid
[Original headline: 2000-year-old woman found] [AFP] The corpse of a woman
who died more than 2,000 years ago has been found well preserved in a mystery
fluid in eastern China, state media reported today. The body of the woman, who
was believed to have lived during the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC - 24 AD),
still had some of her skin, muscle tissue and veins, according to the Xinhua
news
agency. Construction workers at a building site in Lianyungang, Jiangsu
province, discovered the corpse, which was in a coffin, on July 8, Xinhua said
"The
female corpse, estimated to be over 2,000 years old, is said to still have
elastic muscle tissue from being immersed in a special fluid in her coffin,"
Xinhua quoted Lianyungang museum curator Zhou Jinping as saying. Zhou said a
rectangular lacquer box, a bamboo food container, a comb, a copper mirror and a
lock of hair with a hairpin were also found in the coffin. Xinhua described the
corpse as priceless, in terms of archeological research, and said it was now
being preserved in formalin solution and covered with a layer of absorbent
cotton. The news agency did not identify the fluid used to preserve the corpse
for
2,000 years. Zhou said further investigations would be made to determine the
woman's precise historical age, social status and other background details.
Xinhua said the woman was only the third well-preserved Han Dynasty corpse ever
discovered. The other two were excavated separately in the Mawangdui Han Tomb
in Changsha, Hunan province, and the Jingzhou Han Tomb in Hubei Province. •
Story originally published by:
<A
HREF="http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,4702003%5E13762,00.html%20\
">News.com.au</A> / Australia - July 14.02
I worked as a meat cutter for 2 years and the similarities between
mummification and modern beef jerky making and between new and old fashioned
meat
preservation techniques kind of leapt out at me. .
Art


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