Mummy originally meant asphalt, referring to a dry and uncorrupted corpse. Egypt has found the largest number of mummies, the earliest time and the most complicated technology. When the Egyptians made mummies, they first took out part of the brain marrow from the nostrils of the dead body with iron hooks and injected some drugs into the brain for cleaning. Then use a sharp stone knife to cut a hole in the side abdomen, take out the internal organs completely, clean the abdomen, fill it with coconut milk wine and mashed spices, and sew it as it is. After this step is completed, the body is put into baking soda powder for 70 days, then it is washed, wrapped with linen bandage from head to toe, and coated with gum commonly used in Egypt instead of ordinary glue, and then the body is handed over to relatives, who put it in a special humanoid wooden box and keep it in the tomb, standing upright against the wall.
Ancient Egypt liked to mummify the bodies of kings or ministers very early, and it was impossible without a high level of medical care. Unlike ancient China, mummification even became a trend in ancient Egypt. Why?
Mummies, or mummies. Ancient Egyptians buried corpses with antiseptic spices, which dried up over the years and formed mummies. The ancient Egyptians believed that after death, the soul would not die, but would still cling to the corpse or statue. Therefore, after the death of Pharaoh, they were all mummified as a hope and deep memory of the deceased.
Mummy originally meant asphalt, referring to a dry and uncorrupted corpse. Egypt has found the largest number of mummies, the earliest time and the most complicated technology. When the Egyptians made mummies, they first took out part of the brain marrow from the nostrils of the dead body with iron hooks and injected some drugs into the brain for cleaning. Then use a sharp stone knife to cut a hole in the side abdomen, take out the internal organs completely, clean the abdomen, fill it with coconut milk wine and mashed spices, and sew it as it is. After this step is completed, the body is put into baking soda powder for 70 days, then it is washed, wrapped with linen bandage from head to toe, and coated with gum commonly used in Egypt instead of ordinary glue, and then the body is handed over to relatives, who put it in a special humanoid wooden box and keep it in the tomb, standing upright against the wall.
This expensive method of disposing of corpses is generally suitable for pharaohs, dignitaries and the rich. It is much easier for the poor to make mummies. Wash the abdomen with laxatives, then soak the body in soda powder for 70 days, take it out, let the wind blow dry and bury it in a dry sand dune.
The ancient Egyptians, rich or poor, were mummified after their death. This is because the ancient Egyptians believed that people were composed of body and soul, and even in the world of the underworld, the dead still needed their own bodies. A corpse is not a "useless corpse". As long as the body is well preserved, it can always be used. The soul is gradually lost with the gradual destruction of the body, and the complete destruction of the body means the complete disappearance of the soul. As long as the body is preserved and the soul has a place to live, the dead can be reincarnated.
The specific manufacturing process and method are as follows:
If someone dies, his body is first sent to a place called the "clothing department": it is dedicated to purifying the body. After the body was washed with soda water, it was sent to a place called "Babet" (meaning pure land) or "Per-Napier" (meaning beautiful house) to complete the filling of spices. So mummies are being made.
Herodotus left us detailed information about this.
First, apply melted turpentine to your face to protect your facial image and prevent it from drying too fast.
Second, brain pulp processing. The craftsman inserted the chisel into the left nostril, crushed the ethmoid bone, and then used tools to rotate in the brain, destroying the brain marrow. Insert a very small long-handled spoon into the brain from the nostril, dig out the brains, and finally put some drugs and spices into the empty skull. Brain marrow is generally not preserved.
Third, take out the internal organs. The stomach, intestine, liver and lung were taken out through the left incision in the abdomen. Then use palm oil as cleaning solution to clean the chest and abdomen. Sometimes these organs are neatly wrapped in turpentine balls and put into the mummy's abdomen, and sometimes they are put into a small jar with a lid and then put into the abdomen. Small pots are becoming more and more complicated from the ancient kingdom to the new kingdom.
At first, there were some simple pot covers, but in the Middle Kingdom, there were pot covers with heads. In the early18th century, the lid of the jar was guarded by the "son of Horace". However, it was forbidden to take out the heart in ancient Egypt. They regard the heart as a symbol of wisdom and try their best to keep it in the body. In the book of the dead in the New Kingdom, there are three people on duty who take turns guarding the heart.
Fourth, dehydration. This is an important drying process. The craftsmen first wrapped the soaked alkali and other temporary fillers in cloth, and then soaked them in dry soaked alkali powder for about 40 days. After the water is drained, they take out the stuffing inside and put crushed myrrh, cinnamon, soaked alkali, sawdust and so on in cloth bags. Finally, they carefully stitched the incision and pasted a piece of skin with Horace's eyes painted on it, because the ancient Egyptians missed the strong healing and protection of this skin.
Fifth, cosmetic surgery. In order to keep the mummy's skin soft, it was selectively coated with a mixture of milk, wine, spices, beeswax, turpentine and asphalt to beautify the skin. Mummy's eyes are full of linen and stones, which are very vivid. The mummy was finally coated with turpentine to prevent moisture, and the makeup artist also sprinkled a layer of carmine on the mummy's cheeks, wearing a braided wig, clothes and the best jewelry.
Sixth, the bag. Egyptians thought it was dangerous to be buried, so prayers were accompanied during the whole process (usually 15 days). Every time the hand that bandages the body moves, it is accompanied by solemn prayers or magic spells, and protective strips are placed between linen bandages. They attach great importance to keeping it in their hearts. Amulets are generally made of scarab-shaped or heart-shaped green stones with the words "Preserve the heart of the deceased so that it will not produce anything harmful to its owner". Other amulets were placed near the mummy's body or wrapped in linen.
Seventh, the mummy greeted his card. The time is usually 70 days. After that, Anubis secretly returned the mummy to his family for burial.
Conventional production methods of local people:
(1), immediately remove the most perishable internal organs. Usually, an incision is made on the left side of the corpse to remove all the internal organs such as liver, lung, stomach and intestine, and the brain marrow of the deceased is taken out from the nostril through the ethmoid bone, but the heart is not taken. Because the ancient Egyptians believed that the heart was an organ for thinking and understanding and must remain in the body.
(2) To preserve the viscera and body cavity, firstly clean and disinfect them thoroughly with palm wine or date palm wine, then sprinkle a layer of mashed spices on the viscera and store them in four jars; For the disinfected body cavity, it is first filled with temporary fillers such as cloth-wrapped alkali soaking, and then soaked in dry alkali soaking powder for about 40 days. After draining the water, take out the filler and replace it with a cloth wrapped with crushed myrrh, cinnamon, alkali soaking and sawdust. Finally, carefully sew the knife edge and paste a piece of skin with Horace's eyes painted on it, because the ancient Egyptians thought this kind of skin had strong healing and protective power.
(3) Apply a layer of ointment or rosin solution to the treated corpse, and then wrap fingers, palms, feet and stems with white linen in turn. The nose of the deceased is sometimes damaged by extracting brain marrow. At this time, a wooden fake nose should be installed, and the eye socket should be stuffed with cloth to make a fake eye.
(4) Put the deceased's hands on his chest, put them in the sarcophagus, and sometimes add a coffin cover outside. In this way, a mummy is completed.
Naturally occurring mummies:
Inca mummy:
The Incas sacrificed boys and girls to the gods, while the dry and cold air in the Andes froze their bodies. They are probably the most important mummy discoveries of the twentieth century. These mummies were bound by thick cloth and became precious relics of the Incas. Many secrets can be learned from these mummies, especially that their blood is still coagulated in blood vessels, which is an extremely rare discovery.
Soap woman corpse:
This unknown mummy is on display at Matt Medical Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. This was discovered when Philadelphia moved an ancient cemetery one hundred years ago. Soil, temperature, humidity and other conditions are just right to turn her body into corpse wax (Latin means fat and wax). Under the right conditions, if the deceased is an obese person, the fat in the corpse will combine with water to produce fatty acids, which are the main components of corpse wax. This substance excretes water from the surrounding tissues, dehydrates the corpse and hinders the growth of bacteria. This process is like the preservation of Egyptian mummies. The only difference is that soap female corpse will produce surface fatty acids. The soap woman's body was X-rayed at 1987, and the results showed that her clothes were pinned by long pins. They were delivered before 1824, so it can be inferred that she died after that.
Artificial mummy:
Mud mummy:
About 6,000 years ago, the Chinkoro people living near the coast of Chile mummified the dead-their mummification history was 5,000 years earlier than that of Tutankhamun. The Chinkolo people took out the internal organs of the deceased, dismembered the body and removed most of the muscles. Later, they filled the corpses with plant fibers and covered their surfaces with thick black mud, so these mummies were also called black mummies. After 3,000 years' evolution, the mummification technology of Sekulo people in Qin Dynasty has become more and more mature, and they even draw various exquisite patterns on the mummy's face. Finally, they began to wrap the body in red mud. After about 3000 years, the local people simplified the production process and began to wrap the bodies with red mud only.
Egyptian mummy:
Egyptian mummies are the most famous mummies in the world. Their brains were removed from the nasal cavity, and their internal organs were removed from a small incision in the abdomen and stored in a funeral urn for permanent preservation. Egyptians wrapped corpses with a salty mixture of180kg, which is called soaking alkali and can be used as a preservative to keep corpses dry and reduce odor. They also put amulets on the heart of the body, which is the only internal organ preserved in the body. Later, they wrapped the mummy in fine linen and decorated it with prayers.
China mummy:
About 500 years ago, China invented the method of preserving corpses with formalin, without taking out perishable viscera and brains in advance. The technique of mummification is still an unsolved mystery. In Gualin, south of China, a well-preserved mummy still has nails, a stuffy nose and earplugs, showing that there are still body fluids left in the body.
Celebrity mummy:
Mawangdui female corpse:
In some ways, it is the best preserved ancient mummy in the world. She died about two thousand years ago-but her limbs can still bend freely and her skin feels quite soft. 1972, the government of China dug up two huge tombs near Changsha, the capital of Hunan province. In one of the luxurious catacombs, Mrs. Xin's mummy is stored. She was the wife of Hou Licang who went to Qin Xiang from Changsha in the early years of the Western Han Dynasty. This mummy is very soft, so archaeologists can perform almost completely normal autopsies. Mrs. marquis of Qin was about fifty years old when she died, and her figure was quite plump, which may be the cause of death, much like a heart attack.
Lenin:
The revolutionary leader of the Soviet Union is one of the best preserved mummies in the world. He died in 1924 1 and has been frozen ever since. Soviet scientists kept his body in a secret laboratory under Lenin's mausoleum. They took out his internal organs and soaked his whole body in formalin, which is a powerful preservative and can prevent tissue from rotting. The scientist in charge of preservation made an incision in Lenin's body, so that formalin (added with glycerol to keep elasticity) could quickly penetrate into the body. A few weeks later, Comrade Lenin won eternal life. He has been kept in Lenin's mausoleum in Moscow, and only when the Nazis attacked wildly in World War II was he secretly sent to a small town in Siberia for temporary refuge. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the laboratory that cared for Lenin's remains lost the support of the government. For professional needs, the remains were renovated only once every 18 months or so.
Eva Perón:
The former first lady of Argentina is one of the best preserved mummies in the world. 1952 Eva died of cancer in July. She told her manicurist to change her red nail polish into transparent varnish after her death. Millions of Argentines in agony paid tribute to her body, which was then sent to the Ministry of Labor. Dr. Pedro Ala, an embalming master, immersed her body in acetate and nitrate solution, and then slowly injected wax into her body. Since then, Madame Veron has become the most unique mummy ever. 1955, President Juandomingo Peron fled after being overthrown, leaving his wife's mummy behind. The new regime cut off the mummy's left ear and fingertips (ostensibly to check her fingerprints, but more likely to leave a souvenir) to determine whether she was a wax figure, and then Argentina shipped the mummy to Italy, where the Vatican buried her in Milan cemetery, and the tombstone read "Maria Maggie".
Argentines strongly demanded to continue to pay tribute to her body, so her body was dug up again fifteen years later. When the coffin was opened, Eva was still very well preserved, and the grave digger shouted in panic, "Miracle! Miracle! " , and then scared to flee. Eva's mummy was transported to Madrid, Spain, where Juan once lived. When he returned to power in Argentina, he left Eva's mummy in Europe. After Juandomingo Peron's death in 1974, Eva's body returned to Argentina and was placed next to her husband, which attracted the attention of the whole country. Her body is still stored in the original silver crystal coffin, which looks exactly the same as it did twenty years ago. Finally, Eva was buried in the Douaty family cemetery in Recle Tower Cemetery, buried under 7.3 meters thick concrete until now.