How to make a mummy - Len Bloch
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0:07 - 0:14Death and taxes are famously inevitable,
but what about decomposition? -
0:14 - 0:17As anyone who's seen a mummy knows,
-
0:17 - 0:22ancient Egyptians went to a lot of trouble
to evade decomposition. -
0:22 - 0:26So, how successful were they?
-
0:26 - 0:29Living cells constantly renew themselves.
-
0:29 - 0:32Specialized enzymes
decompose old structures, -
0:32 - 0:36and the raw materials
are used to build new ones. -
0:36 - 0:39But what happens when someone dies?
-
0:39 - 0:42Their dead cells are no longer
able to renew themselves, -
0:42 - 0:45but the enzymes
keep breaking everything down. -
0:45 - 0:48So anyone looking to preserve a body
-
0:48 - 0:52needed to get ahead of those enzymes
before the tissues began to rot. -
0:52 - 0:54Neurons die quickly,
-
0:54 - 0:58so brains were a lost cause
to Ancient Egyptian mummifiers, -
0:58 - 1:02which is why, according
to Greek historian Herodotus, -
1:02 - 1:06they started the process
by hammering a spike into the skull, -
1:06 - 1:09mashing up the brain,
flushing it out the nose -
1:09 - 1:15and pouring tree resins into the skull
to prevent further decomposition. -
1:15 - 1:21Brains may decay first,
but decaying guts are much worse. -
1:21 - 1:27The liver, stomach and intestines
contain digestive enzymes and bacteria, -
1:27 - 1:32which, upon death, start eating
the corpse from the inside. -
1:32 - 1:37So the priests removed the lungs
and abdominal organs first. -
1:37 - 1:40It was difficult to remove the lungs
without damaging the heart, -
1:40 - 1:43but because the heart was believed
to be the seat of the soul, -
1:43 - 1:46they treated it with special care.
-
1:46 - 1:48They placed the visceral organs in jars
-
1:48 - 1:51filled with a naturally occurring salt
called natron. -
1:51 - 1:57Like any salt, natron can prevent decay
by killing bacteria -
1:57 - 2:01and preventing the body's natural
digestive enzymes from working. -
2:01 - 2:05But natron isn't just any salt.
-
2:05 - 2:08It's mainly a mixture
of two alkaline salts, -
2:08 - 2:11soda ash and baking soda.
-
2:11 - 2:15Alkaline salts are especially
deadly to bacteria. -
2:15 - 2:19And they can turn fatty membranes
into a hard, soapy substance, -
2:19 - 2:23thereby maintaining
the corpse's structure. -
2:23 - 2:25After dealing with the internal organs,
-
2:25 - 2:29the priest stuffed the body cavity
with sacks of more natron -
2:29 - 2:33and washed it clean to disinfect the skin.
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2:33 - 2:38Then, the corpse was set in a bed
of still more natron -
2:38 - 2:43for about 35 days
to preserve its outer flesh. -
2:43 - 2:44By the time of its removal,
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2:44 - 2:48the alkaline salts
had sucked the fluid from the body -
2:48 - 2:51and formed hard brown clumps.
-
2:51 - 2:53The corpse wasn't putrid,
-
2:53 - 2:56but it didn't exactly smell good, either.
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2:56 - 3:00So, priests poured tree resin over
the body to seal it, -
3:00 - 3:04massaged it with a waxy mixture
that included cedar oil, -
3:04 - 3:07and then wrapped it in linen.
-
3:07 - 3:11Finally, they placed the mummy
in a series of nested coffins -
3:11 - 3:15and sometimes even a stone sarcophagus.
-
3:15 - 3:20So how successful were
the ancient Egyptians at evading decay? -
3:20 - 3:25On one hand, mummies are definitely not
intact human bodies. -
3:25 - 3:29Their brains have been mashed up
and flushed out, -
3:29 - 3:33their organs have been removed
and salted like salami, -
3:33 - 3:37and about half of their remaining
body mass has been drained away. -
3:37 - 3:42Still, what remains
is amazingly well-preserved. -
3:42 - 3:44Even after thousands of years,
-
3:44 - 3:46scientists can perform autopsies
on mummies -
3:46 - 3:49to determine their causes of death,
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3:49 - 3:53and possibly even isolate DNA samples.
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3:53 - 3:55This has given us new information.
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3:55 - 4:01For example, it seems that air pollution
was a serious problem in ancient Egypt, -
4:01 - 4:06probably because of indoor fires
used to bake bread. -
4:06 - 4:12Cardiovascular disease was also common,
as was tuberculosis. -
4:12 - 4:16So ancient Egyptians were somewhat
successful at evading decay. -
4:16 - 4:21Still, like death, taxes are inevitable.
-
4:21 - 4:27When some mummies were transported,
they were taxed as salted fish.
- Title:
- How to make a mummy - Len Bloch
- Description:
-
View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-to-make-a-mummy-len-bloch
As anyone who’s seen a mummy knows, ancient Egyptian priests went to a lot of trouble to evade decomposition. But how successful were they? Len Bloch details the mummification process and examines its results thousands of years later.
Lesson by Len Bloch, animation by The Moving Company Animation Studio.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TED-Ed
- Duration:
- 04:46
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