After thousands of years of existence, mummification technology is constantly developing and perfecting, creating products that last with time that modern science still does not fully understand.
Since when did mummies and mummification technology exist?
Archaeologists have found the mummies of humans and other animals all over the world, considering them cultural artifacts of high historical and archaeological value. To date, more than a million animal mummies have been found in Egypt, including many cats. The oldest natural mummy was a severed human head about 6,000 years ago, found in 1936 in Inca Cueva, South America. In addition to ancient Egypt, purposeful mummification was the custom of tattoo clothing many ancient cultures in South America and Asia where the dry, dry climate was convenient for preserving corpses. There are currently more than 1,000 mummies in Xinjiang, China. One of the oldest mummies named Chinchorro was found in the Camarones valley, Chile, dating back to around 5050 BC.
Ancient Egyptian mummies are considered the most famous and perfect. The Egyptians mummified the body in an abdominal dissection, removing many of the internal organs, and then the body was covered with natron, to speed up the dehydration process and prevent decomposition. In China, mummies are wrapped in coffins with cypress and other medicinal herbs.
● 2,100-year-old Chinese mummified woman mystery
According to Listverse (UK) magazine at the end of April 2017, the mummy of a Chinese woman named Xin Zhui, dated to 178 BC, meaning has existed for more than 2,100 years, belonging to the Han dynasty. discovered in Mawangdui, Hunan in 1971. Xin Zhui died at the age of 50 more than two thousand years ago, but when she was discovered, she looked as if she had just died. Xin Zhui's coffin was found at a depth of 15 meters underground with 4 large and small coffins surrounded from the inside out; followed by tons of layers of coal and the outermost layer of clay. This woman was wrapped up to 22 dresses with 9 ribbons. The most mysterious element of the Xin Zhui mummy is the acidic preservative liquid that was used by the ancients to keep the body soft. With the secret of mummification of the ancient Chinese, despite spending 2,100 years lying in the ground, Xin Zhui's body is still very intact, the skin is still soft, even hair and eyelashes, hands can be folded and stretched. . An autopsy revealed that Xin Zhui suffered from overweight, back pain, high blood pressure, clogged arteries, liver disease, gallstones, diabetes, and severe heart failure, even archaeologists discovered. that the food this woman ate before she died was watermelon.
● Europeans used Cinnabar to mummify
One of the oldest mummies found in Europe is the mummy "La Velilla" in Osorno Palencia, Spain. The mummy dates back about 5,000 years, during which Cinnabar was crushed for preservation purposes. Cinnabar, understood in Vietnamese as Chu sa or dansa, chain..., is a sulfide mineral (chemical formula HgS), reddish brown color, available in nature and contains high levels of mercury in the form of mercury. mercury sulfide (HgS). In Europe, Cinnabar has been mined since the Roman Empire as a pigment or to produce mercury. Cinnabar was commonly used in Mayan royal burials during the height of this civilization.
● How to mummify modern people
One of the first methods used by modern humans to preserve baseball jerseys custom corpses was the use of formaldehyde. This chemical compound was discovered by German chemist August Wilhelm von Hofmann in the 1960s in the 19th century. After the liquids and gases were drained from the body, formaldehyde was injected and then dried or frozen. . Some of the mummies were then sprayed with a wax mixture to limit water seepage and help prevent bacteria from entering. The method of using formaldehyde is the most common way to protect the body today. It is predicted that sooner or later this technique will be replaced due to the toxicity of formaldehyde which is detrimental to the environment.
In addition to embalming, modern science also uses a new technology, freezing technology to preserve the body in the hope of resurrection. Freezing technology has been and is being commercialized, essentially preserving the dead body in a container of liquid nitrogen. Many famous and wealthy customers are using this service, hoping that when science develops, they will cure their incurable diseases… The cost of this freezing process is not cheap at all, it costs about approx. 28,000 USD (over 6.3 billion VND), excluding transportation and annual maintenance costs.