The Mummy

Such methods also make it possible to learn about the state of health of the dead before death, the diseases from which they suffered, their age at the time of death, the method used for their mummification, and even the cultural environment in which they lived and were mummified (Cockbum et al. 1998 Harris and Wente 1980). The conception and development of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) at the end of the twentieth century made it also possible to study the genetic characteristics of the mummies and of the populations to which they belonged (see Textbox 65). 

A sample of hair from an Egyptian mummy gives off radiation from carbon-14 at a rate of 58.2 % of a present day sample. How old is the mummy if the half-life of carbon-14 is 5730 years ... 

The mummy only weighs about 30 poimds (13 kg) and is about five feet (1.54 m) in length, but because of shrinkage this does not reflect the Iceman s true physique. According to the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in Bolzano, Italy, which houses the body, the living Otzi would have been about 63 inches tall (1.6 m) and weighed 110 pounds (50 kg). 

South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology Oetzi/Otzi, the Iceman. Available online. URL http //www.archaeologiemuseum.it/f01 ice uk.html. Accessed May 28, 2009. The Web site of the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology, which houses Otzi, presents photographs and information on the mummy, clothing, and equipment. 

The two manuscripts taken together foi m an interesting collection of laboratory recipes of the kinds which Diocletian ordered destroyed and which apparently were very generally destroyed. The date ascribed to them is about the time of the decree of Diocletian, and it may be presumed that, in the mummy case, they escaped the execution of that decree. 

If, as is not certain, this leaf belonged with the other leaves and was part of the notes deposited in the mummy case of the former owner, the inference would lie near that... 

This method was used in the examination of an Eskimo who died 1600 years ago. The body was discovered in a frozen state on St. Lawrence Island, Alaska in 1972 and remained frozen until it was brought to Fairbanks in 1973. Examination of the female individual revealed that she had a skull fracture, probably resulting from instant bunal caused by a landslide. Aspaitic acid laceiuization analysis of a tooth from the mummy yielded an age at death of 53 5 years, which correlated well with earlier estimates based upon morphological features. This method is an example of the need to preserve mummies (Alaskan. Egyptian, and Peruvian, among others) for application of new dating techniques as they develop. 

Biblical scrolls are found in a cave near the Dead Sea. Are they authentic A mummy is discovered in an Egyptian tomb. How old is it The burned bones of a man are dug up near Lubbock, Texas. How long have humans lived in the area These and many other questions can be answered by archaeologists using a technique called radiocarbon dating. (The Dead Sea Scrolls are 1900 years old and authentic, the mummy is 3100 years old, and the human remains found in Texas are 9900 years old.)... 

Apiece of the linen wrapping an Egyptian mummy was analyzed and found to have a 14C activity of 8.1 counts (disintegrations) per minute for each gram of carbon. Estimate the age of the mummy. 

PROBLEM 6.4.5. An Egyptian mummy shows 75.5% of the electron decay counts expected from the 6C14 of a modern and recent human corpse. How old is the mummy ... 

With the neutron activation procedure, the measurement of P is reliable only when there is very little Al (<20 ppm), or when an epithermal irradiation (Cd-covered) is used to correct for the direct activation of 28Al from the Al. For badly contaminated samples, the X-ray fluorescence data are more suitable for the P determination. The sequential irradiation procedures (with and without cadmium) showed that many of the mummy samples were contaminated to some extent and contained more than 20 ppm of Al. 

The contamination of archaeological bone samples by the soil will affect many of the trace elements. For example, the bones buried in the soil (Table I) contain substantially more Ti, Si, Ba, and V than most of the mummy samples. That the Cr concentrations correlate well with the Si02 content suggests that Cr concentrations can be used as a measure of soil contamination. Hancock et al. found that, when using INAA, the Mn, Al, and V levels seemed to be the most sensitive indicators of soil contamination (16). Whether these same elements will indicate the effects of deposition of mineral phases from solution is not clear. 

These results confirm the great difficulty in using buried bone samples in any type of trace element study. Even some of the mummy samples we studied were also contaminated. These results confirm that the analysis of the inorganic components of archaeological bone must be approached with great caution, especially when the bones have been in contact with soils or ground water solutions. Even isotopic studies may be affected by changes caused by recrystallization processes. 

Every Human Being is, according to the Soul, a part (Ray) of the original Osiris However, within the Human Being, Osiris is dead, through the lower Nature (Set-Typhon), that means, through the evil demon, the animal Soul, which like Cain slew his brother Abel He is buried in the shrine of the mummy of the Earth-Body and thrown into the Nile (River of Life). 

Geb is the egyptian God of the Earth (Saturn), that means, the God which is buried in the earthly body, the Father of Osiris, the Osiris of Yesterday Osiris himself is the out-of-Shrine, out-of-the-Mummy liberated, but in the water-dissolved Soul, the midnight sun of the Underworld in her course through the descending arc of the spiritual zodiac, wherefore the egyptian Priests whispered into the ears of Mystics during the Initiation, the secret word "Osiris is a black God "... 

The Mummy (from the Pers. mumija) is a wax, a soft, balsamic resin or gum, a very precious, fragrant, mountain-balsam for the healing of wounds which the Egyptians... 

For example, one day Arnell visited the Egyptian wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and became enamored of mummies He and his parents selected several ways to explore the topic of mummies, which naturally led to other related topics. Eventually, the mummy unit study took on a life of its own. Arnell s activities soon included ... 

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... 

Nevertheless, the chances of successfully doing that seem to be slim, for now. Notably, Ramses V, who lived some 3000 years ago, is the earliest known victim of smallpox, based on an analysis of his mummy [261]. Many virus-like particles were revealed by electron microscopy and identified serologically as smallpox virus in a 400-year-old mummy from Italy. The antigenic structure of the particles was well preserved [262]. The virions in the mummy s skin had lost their viability. Viral antigen was not be detected by EIA or RPHA, and its DNA was not detected by molecular hybridization [263]. Attempts to recover the virus from the frozen bodies of persons who died of smallpox continue in Arctic sites in Siberia [264], and in Canada [265]. 

Nearly two thousand five hundred years after Tuthmose III, a group of French knights, who were later to become the Knights Templar, excavated under the temple in Jemsalem and found caches the Romans had not discovered.They found Salem hidden records, wealth and technology. Perhaps they also found the mummies of Jacob and Joseph. Salem s technology included the secret double pelican with two interlocking cucurbits for producing the sacramental Philosophers Stone. It was called the Ancient of Days. 

Ekelund said nothing, but made a sharp irritated gesture to the mummy. It let the girl go. She floundered, trembling so badly she could hardly stand. Ralph caught her before she fell. He winced at the weight that put on his injured leg. 

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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