Soap mummies

It takes time for adipocere to form, however, so if insects get to the body and eat the fleshy bits fairly quickly, the process is not likely to take place. But if conditions are right, adipocere can form all over the surface of a body, producing what is commonly called a "soap mummy."... 

Want to see a soap mummy The Miitter Museum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has one. She is called the "Soap Woman." A man who was buried next to her and who also turned into a soap mummy is sometimes displayed in the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C., too. Not surprisingly, he is called the "Soap Man."... 

Mummies Made of Soap Eicosanoids Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes, and Thromboxanes... 

Recently Soap Woman became a television celebrity when a CT Scan done to examine the body was filmed for "The Mummy Road Show," a presentation of the National Geographic Channel. One reason for the examination was to try to understand the conditions that caused this chemical conversion. At the present time, no one is precisely sure how these two people turned to soap. One clue resides in the environment of the burial site. Apparently the groundwater running through the graves was very basic. Another clue to the mystery is that our soap couple was overweight. Certainly these two factors... 

The use of chemicals dates back to the ancient civilizations. For example, many chemicals were known and used by the ancient Egyptians—they used soda (known to them as natron ) mixed with animal fats as soap to wash corpses, and on its own in the mummifying process which followed. Glass objects and glazed pottery, which were buried with the mummies for their use in their assumed after-life, were made from soda and sand. 

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