Mummy from Thebes from 1825 engraving

Mummy from Thebes from 1825 engraving

Mummy from Thebes from 1825 engraving

Mummies and myths go together, with some ghoulish fascination with ancient tombs for added interest, but modern science is shedding a bit light on our own more musty ideas about ancient Egypt's dead.

Whilst modern-day Egypt seethes with political turmoil, scholarship to the mortuary practices of that ancient land is obtaining a renaissance.

"Mummification took in Egypt in excess of 3,000 years, and the practice changed at different times and places," says anthropologist Andrew Wade of Canada's University of Western Ontario. "Previously, we'd take a look at 1 or 2 mummies and make conclusions, but today we have a lot more non-destructive technology and medical information we are able to give bear with them."

In a upcoming Journal of Archaeological Science analysis, Wade and his awesome colleague Andrew Nelson have a look at radiological scans of 84 ancient mummies from museums worldwide. Their goal: planning to prove or disprove a number of the hoariest (and creepiest), accounts of ancient mummification. Those types of ideas was the notion that embalmers removed the brains of dead rulers from the nose and that the practice was limited to royalty along with their loyal followers. Another could be that the body organs of the wealthy were removed from mummies. The analysis and a series of related reports show all those ideas, long staples of scary mummy stories beneficial to grossing out schoolkids and adults, look a bit more complicated when viewed under the X-ray.