![]() ![]() Experts believe that the ancient Egyptians discovered the mummification. Natron is a naturally occurring white, crystalline mineral salt which absorbs water from its surroundings. Nevertheless, the presence of shrunken internal organs and relatively well-preserved bodies suggests that significant efforts were made to embalm Kha and Merit. Divine Creatures: Animal Mummies in Ancient Egypt. The Anubis is a jackal-headed god who guided the dead to judgement. The oldest known Egyptian mummy dated back to 3500 B.C. Mummification is the actual process of artificially preserving the dead body, also known as embalming. The hery seshta, or master of secrets, was in charge and took the role of the jackal-god Anubis. Simply put, a mummy is the preserved body of a human being or an animal. 1550-1070BCE) it was the practice for anyone that could afford it. To begin with, it was available only to kings, but by the New Kingdom (c. Natron was used in Egyptian glass-making at least as long ago as the Badarian period of early 4th millennium BCE, and likely in mummy-making about the same time. The process of mummification changed over time. ![]() It was used as a dessicant in the mummification process. Natron is a salt, and salts and brines have been used in all cultures for a number of uses. He noted that Merit's mummy has disarticulated bones within the wrappings, which may be due to some, if limited, putrefaction of the internal organs left in place. Natron, a naturally occurring salt found in the Wadi el-Natrun which is located in the desert west of the Nile Delta. The science and theology of embalming evolved over time, but without doubt, the best-preserved mummies are those of the twenty dynasties of the New Kingdom (1570-1075 AD). ![]() "There is evidence that Kha's mummy may have been inflated by gases resulting from some bodily decay, before deflating as desiccation took place post-natron bath," Buckley said. This, together with natron, a natural drying agent, led to the ultimate mummification process. "They were mummified using a natron salt solution, as were the royals in the 18th Dynasty, but unlike the wealthier royals, their internal organs were not removed," Stephen Buckley, an archaeological chemist at the University of York in England, told Discovery News.Īccording to Buckley, the salt solution would have reduced the need for evisceration, but the end result, though reasonable, shows why removal of the internal organs, followed by packing the body cavities, was preferable. ![]()
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