Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
Embalming
The terms
embalming
and
mummification
are often employed as synonyms to
refer to the deliberate preservation of corpses so that they keep, as much as
possible, their lifelike appearance. To
embalm
or
mummify
a dead body is to
preserve it by artificial, chemical means.
Dehydratation
, the removal of water,
for example, provides suitable conditions for the preservation of organic
mater in general and of corpses in particular; many ancient corpses have
been mummified by dehydration. In some ancient societies, after the corpse
was dry it was impregnated or filled with aromatic substances, usually
known as
balms
, such as molten resin, pitch, or tar, preventing it from becom-
ing unsightly.
A great deal of what was known until the twentieth century about
ancient embalming and mummification processes was based on the writings
of early historians, such as Herodotus, who carefully recorded Egyptian
embalming procedures during his travels in the fifth century B.C.E.
(Herodotus 1958). Much more about the methods of mummification, the
mummies themselves, and the culture at the time they were mummified can
be learned, however, from the actual examination and analysis of the
mummies (David 2000; Andrews 1998). Although quite a large number of
mummies were studied during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries,
it was only during the second half of the twentieth century that it became
possible to study mummies without harming or destroying them. Nonde-
structive methods of examination, particularly
imaging techniques
, based on
the use of penetrating radiation such as radiography, tomography, and MRI
(see Textbox 68), now provide information on the present condition of
mummies with almost no need even to unwrap them (Tchapla et al. 2004;
Aufderheide 2003).
TEXTBOX
68
IMAGING
Imaging
is the process of creating visual representations of some measur-
able property of objects, living organisms, or phenomena. Throughout the
greater part of human development, images were almost solely of an artis-
tic nature, mostly flat drawings and paintings and three-dimensional carv-
ings and castings reproducing visual impressions or recollections of people,
animals or plants, objects, or places. During the nineteenth century tech-
nology extended the range of imaging techniques so as to include pho-
