

The presence of bacteria leads to decomposition after death and the survival of the pregnant uterus inside the mummified body leads to the inevitable decomposition of the body.įor the same reason, ancient Egyptian embalmers always removed the internal organs, and would not have left a womb carrying a fetus inside the body, so as not to damage the corpse. Selim's detailed response confirmed that the pregnant uterus is a very fertile material for bacteria. She added that these results contradict the natural stages of decomposition and the mummification process, according to the method used by the ancient Egyptians. Selim refuted that the presence of a fetus inside a mummy had been witnessed before, as it is incompatible with the Egyptian methods of embalming. Selim's scientific reply was published in the same scientific journal that published the Polish research in January 2022, after having been approved by 3 specialized arbitrators. Selim confirmed that the mummy's pregnancy is "false". In 2022, Sahar Selim, professor of radiology at Cairo University and an expert on mummies, revealed a new surprise about the mummy. The researchers found that the mummy was between 26 and 30 weeks pregnant when she died. The fetal head was measured to ascertain the number of weeks the woman had been pregnant. X-rays also showed that the woman died when she was between 20 and 30 years old. X-rays showed that the remains of a woman who died 2,000 years ago contained a fetus. In May 2021, it was published in the Journal of Archaeological Sciences that an X-ray was performed on the mummy of an Egyptian woman. Every now and then a new study appears shedding light on a discovered artifact or a mummy of a king or a queen.Ī recent study conducted by Polish scientists on the ancient Egyptian mummy displayed in the Warsaw Museum, and known as the "Pregnant Mummy", revealed astonishing information. Your browser does not support the audio element.CAIRO – 2 August 2022: The life of ancient Egyptians remains the focus of researchers and scientists around the world. Listen to a recorded reading of this page:.Take a ten question quiz about this page.Mummies are studied by scientists without unwrapping them by using CAT scan and X-Ray machines.It is probably this custom that led to the superstition that mummies come back to life. Sometimes the mummy's mouth would be opened to symbolize breathing in the afterlife.The brain was thrown away because it was thought to be useless.

The heart was left in the body because it was considered to be the center of intelligence.Some were burned for fuel, some were ground into powder to make magical potions, and some were destroyed by treasure hunters. Over the past few thousands of years, many of the Egyptian mummies have been destroyed in interesting ways.

Both Tutankhamun and Rameses the Great were preserved and can be seen at museums. There are still mummies of some of the ancient Pharaohs around. Why did they care so much about the dead bodies? Once the body was all wrapped up, it was covered in a sheet called a shroud and placed in a stone coffin called a sarcophagus. The total process could take up to 40 days. Resin was used to glue the layers of wrap together. They would use many layers of strips of linen wrapping, covering the entire body.
#Natron mummy skin#
Once it was dry, they would use lotions on the skin to preserve it, reinforce the empty body with packing, and then cover the body in wraps of linen. With the body covered and stuffed with natron, they would let the body dry out for around 40 days.

They would also take out some of the organs. The natron would help to dry out the body. The Egyptians started out by covering the body with a salty crystal substance called natron. It's water that causes much of the decay. The main thing they did was try to get all the water and moisture out of the body. It's a little gross, so we won't go into too much of the gory details. The Egyptians went through an elaborate process to preserve the body and keep it from decaying. Elliot Smith How did they embalm the mummies?
