![]() How long will it take to mummify the hot dog? How will you know when the hot dog is completely desiccated and mummified? Open up some baking soda and a package of hot dogs to find out! In this human biology science project, you will play the part of the royal embalmer (the person in charge of making the mummies) but instead of mummifying a pharaoh of ancient Egypt, you will mummify something much closer to home-a hot dog! To mummify the hot dog you will use baking soda, which is one of the desiccants in natron. By studying the remains, scientists can find out the health of the mummified person, life expectancies, and the kinds of diseases that plagued ancient Egypt. Present-day scientists, also known as Egyptologists, are interested in studying mummies because they provide a wealth of knowledge about the time in which they were made. In the case of the pharaohs Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure, their tombs are now known as the Great Pyramids of Giza. Once completely wrapped, the remains were placed inside of a sarcophagus and then inside of a tomb. Once the body was completely desiccated, it was rubbed with perfumed oils and then wrapped very carefully with linen bandages. As you probably guessed, the purpose of stuffing and covering the body with natron was to remove all bodily fluids from the body and desiccate it. It does this by absorbing water or moisture from its surrounding environment. A desiccant is a substance that dries out things next to it. Natron is a naturally found salt mixture of several different desiccants. ![]() Finally, the body was stuffed and covered with natron. The heart was left in the body because the ancient Egyptians believed that the heart was the location of emotion and thought. Each jar was believed to be guarded by a different god. An opening was made in the left side of the abdomen and the lungs, liver, stomach and intestines were removed and placed into four canopic jars. Then the brain was removed through the nostrils and discarded. ![]() First, the body was thoroughly washed in the waters of the Nile river. There were several steps to the Egyptian ritual of mummification. The ancient Egyptians started mummifying remains about 3500 BC, although older purposefully mummified remains have been found elsewhere, such as in Pakistan about 5000 BC and in Chile around 5050 B.C. It was important for a person's ka to survive so that he or she could enjoy the afterlife, or life after death. The ancient Egyptians believed that preserving the body was important because without the body, the previous owner's "ka," or life force, would always be hungry. #Natron mummy skinBut what is the connection between these three things and what is a mummy? A mummy, like the one shown in Figure 1 below, is a corpse whose skin and flesh have been preserved by chemicals or by exposure to the elements of weather. ![]() Most people associate ancient Egypt with the pharaohs, the Great Pyramids of Giza, and mummies. ![]()
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