INTRIGUING FACTS ABOUT MUMMIES

A MUMMY IS THE BODY OF A HUMAN OR ANIMAL

THAT HAS BEEN CEREMONIALLY PRESERVED BY

REMOVAL OF THE INTERNAL ORGANS, TREATED

WITH NATRON (SODIUM CARBONATE DECAHYDRATE)

AND RESIN AND WRAPPED IN BANDAGES

THE ENGLISH MUMMY IS DERIVED FROM THE

MEDIEVAL LATIN MUMIA A BORROWING FROM

THE MEDIEVAL ARABIC MUMIYA AND FROM

THE PERSIAN MUM (WAX), WHICH MEANT AN

EMBALMED CORPSE, AS WELL AS THE

BITUMINOUS EMBALMING SUBSTANCE AND

ALSO MEANT BITUMEN

SOME ANIMAL MUMMIES DISCOVERED BY

ARCHAEOLOGISTS INCLUDE JACKALS, CATS,

BABOONS, HORSES, BIRDS, GERBILS, FISH,

SNAKES, CROCODILES, HIPPOS, AND EVEN A LION

IN CASE YOU’VE EVER WONDERED WHY SO MANY

MUMMIES OF JACKALS HAVE BEEN FOUND, KEEP IN

MIND THAT THE GOD OF MUMMIFICATION WAS

ANUBIS, AN EGYPTIAN GOD WITH THE HEAD OF

A JACKAL

ANCIENT EGYPTIANS STARTED MAKING MUMMIES

AROUND 3400 BCE, BUT IT TOOK THEM NEARLY

EIGHT HUNDRED YEARS TO FIGURE OUT THAT IF

THEY TOOK OUT THE INTERNAL ORGANS, THE

MUMMIES WOULD LAST INSTEAD OF ROT. OVER

TIME MUMMIFICATION BECAME A VERY

COMPLICATED AND LENGTHY PROCESS

THAT LASTED UP TO SEVENTY DAYS

THE FIRST PERSON TO WRITE IN GREAT DETAIL ABOUT

THE PROCESS OF MUMMIFICATION WAS THE GREEK

HISTORIAN HERODOTUS, AFTER HE VISITED EGYPT

AROUND 450 BCE

DESPITE MUMMIES BEING LINKED WITH EGYPT

(ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY), A SOUTH AMERICAN TRIBE

NAMED CHINCHORRO WAS THE FIRST TO MAKE

MUMMIES. ACCORDING TO RECENT

ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE, THE OLDEST

CHINCHORRO MUMMIES DATE BACK ABOUT

SEVEN THOUSAND YEARS, TWICE AS OLD AS

THE FIRST EGYPTIAN ONES

THE FIRST MODERN SCIENTIFIC EXAMINATIONS

OF MUMMIES BEGAN IN 1901, CONDUCTED BY

PROFESSORS AT THE ENGLISH-LANGUAGE

GOVERNMENT SCHOOL OF MEDICINE IN CAIRO.

THE FIRST X-RAY OF A MUMMY OCCURRED IN 1903,

WHEN PROFESSORS GRAFTON ELLIOT SMITH

AND HOWARD CARTER USED THE ONLY X-RAY

MACHINE IN CAIRO AT THE TIME TO EXAMINE

THE MUMMIFIED BODY OF THUTMOSE IV

NOT ALL MUMMIES WERE WRAPPED UP IN THE

SAME POSITION. FOR EXAMPLE, THE VAST

MAJORITY OF ROYAL MALES WERE POSITIONED

WITH THEIR ARMS CROSSED OVER THEIR CHEST,

THE POSITION WE MOST OFTEN SEE WHEN IT

COMES TO FILMS AND POPULAR MEDIA