Mummification process

Even so, the bitumen is a very old material. They were used in the waterproofing of the cradle that baby Moses was floated in. It was used by the ancient Egyptians in their mummification process. Bitumens were used in sand stabilization and for lighting the naval base by the Second Muslim Caliph, Omar ben Khattab, at Basra on Shattul-Arab on the West Coast of what is now Saudi Arabia around a.d. 640. 

Because cadavers comprise 60%-80% water their breakdown has been described as a competition between desiccation and decomposition (Auf-derheide 1981). The relationship between these processes is important because rapid desiccation can inhibit decomposition and result in the natural preservation of a cadaver for thousands of years, such as the natural mummies observed in Egypt (Ruffer 1921) and Peru (Allison 1979). Sledzik and Micozzi (1997) distinguished three types of mummification natural, intentional, and artificial. Dryness, heat, or absence of air may cause natural mummification. Intentional mummification is the result of exploitation or enhancement of natural mummification processes. Artificial mummification may be the result of evisceration, fire, or smoke curing and the application of embalming substances. 

Rollo, F., Luciani, S., Canapa, A., Marota, I. 2000. Analysis of bacterial DNA in skin and muscle of the Tyrolean iceman offers new insight into the mummification process. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 111 211-219. 

Ancient Egypt is also credited with the use of plasticizers to preserve skin. This was practiced in the mummification process in which the body was dried which made dry skin very fragile and thus a mixture of cedar oil, wax, natron, and gum was rabbed to soften the skin and prevent it from cracking. 

The term cinnamon refers to the genus Cinnamomum, which belongs to the family of Lauraceae and comprises over 250 species of evergreen trees and shrubs [65], Cinnamon is a spice native to Sri Lanka and Southern India used for thousands of years [58]. The first recorded use of cinnamon was by the father of Chinese medicine, Emperor Shen Nung circa 2800 B.C.E. Cinnamon was used in Eg5q)t as an ingredient in embalming fluid for the mummification process and was mentioned... 

The main uses of bitumen were as a waterproofing material and an adhesive in antiquity. The pigment mummy (q.v.) may well have been adulterated with bitumen (Woodcock, 1996) as the use of this material was minor in Ancient Egyptian mummification processes. Its uses as a pigment (as separate fiom asphalt ) are less well attested, in that it was not of the accepted hard and pure quahty of the Dead Sea asphaltites. 

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