Synchrotron “virtual archaeozoology” reveals how Ancient Egyptians prepared a decaying crocodile cadaver for mummification

Mummification in Ancient Egypt

men was rarely used in ancient Egypt, not until much later in its history, but the name stuck and has remained in popular usage. The Egyptians would never have used the word mummy, it has been suggested3 that their word would have been Sahu, which means, an embalmed cadaver. Long after mummification was abandoned, extracts of mummies were used for all sorts of purposes. The Arab physician Avice...

On desert origins for the ancient Egyptians

The volumes under discussion, while very different in nature and value, reflect a growing dissatisfaction with the application of a classic Childean paradigm to the evolution of Egyptian civilisation. An increasing number of studies are now questioning the once axiomatic importance of settled village life as the basis for early state formation, and returning to older models in which mobile grou...

Heart Treatment in Ancient Egyptian Mummification

An ancient icon reveals new mysteries: mummy DNA resurrects a cryptic species within the Nile crocodile.

The Nile crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) is an ancient icon of both cultural and scientific interest. The species is emblematic of the great civilizations of the Nile River valley and serves as a model for international wildlife conservation. Despite its familiarity, a centuries-long dispute over the taxonomic status of the Nile crocodile remains unresolved. This dispute not only confounds our...

Pulmonary mummification in a Coptic mummy from ancient Egypt.

Mummification of lung tissue is not unusual due to 2 factors: it contains few of the epithelial cells with large concentrations of hydrolase-rich liposomes that are associated with the putrefaction process, and the area of desiccation is very large, due to the large volume of aerated regions.1 However, it is rare to find examples with intact structures. In this paper, we present a mummified ind...