How long have mummies been around for?”, asked Mark Twain.
“Humans are ancient, the way in which they worked together since the earliest times – their bodies were joined to the bone in a motion that appeared to come from very close by – allowing for more extended and thorough study,” he writes.
“More recent excavations at sites where the mummies were buried and which were either destroyed by vandals or escaped by human hunters has also suggested the presence of humans in the area,” he writes.
“More than a century ago, the Mummy was discovered in Egypt, and since its discovery has been a source of fascination for artists and antiquities collectors alike,” writes Stephen Buckley, curator of the Museum of the Moving Ancient Art in New York.
“Fans of classic horror-movie movies often include Mummy in the mix, but Mummy Holmes is the best-known example of a non-western culture making an appearance in the form of an Egyptian mummy,” writes David Briggs, curator of the Museums Nazionale in Rome.
How long have mummies been around for?,” asked Cummings. “The oldest were found in the cemeteries of Queen
, while the ancient mummies of the Iron Age were originally dated to around 5000 BC. However, because of the nature of ancient mummification rituals, researchers couldn’t find any that closely matched the mummified heads of the dead kings.
Now, thanks to the amazing art of Photoshop, you can tell exactly where the artificial mummies are based on their skin tone. By studying the faces of the mummies, scientists were able to determine their approximate age, which was then compared to the known mummies.
. Researchers found that the types of chemical analysis performed on the samples revealed the presence of both organic and synthetic mummies. They also found that the types of chemical analysis performed on the samples indicated whether the material was bound with an embalming substance.
. The chemical analysis revealed the presence of an embalming substance.
. The chemical analysis also revealed that the material was made from petroleum, which had not previously been the case. In other, yet still more evidence for the mummies being made in the Iron Age, the discovery meant that the researchers had a complete scientific understanding of the culture and its use of embalming agents, and therefore of course of direct contact between the two cultures.
Previously, the scientists had analyzed the mummies’ skin oils, but they couldn’t find any trace of any plant or animal oils. So they went back to the drawing board and did a little research. They found that:
1. The cultures were closely related; the ancient Egyptians were polytheists who ate and used no animal products at any time. The dry desert climate of the Near East allowed for the rapid development of farming techniques that helped to ensure a steady supply of food.
The dry climate of the Near East also facilitated rapid drying of body and soul. If a body is dried out too early, or if any of the organs are damaged, bacteria can still grow on the body and cause it to decay.
