Mummies And The Secrets Of Ancient Egypt

Describes the ancient Egyptian practice of preserving the dead through the process of mummification and explains what scientists have learned from unwrapping and examining mummies.

A fascinating and thorough account of the Egyptian process of mummification and efforts to safeguard places of burial against thieves.

Details how mummies were prepared and what they meant to the cultures that practiced mummification.

Is there is such a thing as a mummy?s curse? How were the ancient pyramids built? What did the pharaohs do all day? All of these questions?and more?will be answered in this fun activity book. Kids will feel like real-life archaeologists when they solve puzzles and try activities about: famous pharaohs like King Tut and Ramses; gods like Osiris and Anubis; what the Egyptians believed about the afterlife; tools and laborers used to build the pyramids; tomb treasures like pottery, paintings, and hieroglyphics; Egypt- and mummy-related Halloween costume ideas; and more! With this book by their sides, kids will find themselves transported to a world of powerful gods, mysterious ceremonies, and glorious treasures.

Egyptian Mummies results from research done in preparation for the mummification of a human body, the first to be done in the Egyptian style in two thousand years. Through these studies, noted Egyptologist Bob Brier has unearthed the gripping stories of grave robberies and stolen mummies, the forgotten language of the pharaohs, and the tombs of the royal mummies. In an easily accesible and lively style, Brier uncovers the complete historical context of ancient Egyptian culture and offers a fascinating contemporary interpretation of it. Illuminating their mysteries, myths, sacred rituals, and heiroglyphic writing, Egyptian Mummies brings the ancients to life.

Howard Carter's discovery of King Tutankhamen's tomb in 1923 sparked worldwide fascination about ancient Egypt, and the mysteries of the Egyptians still loom large. The Pyramids, the Sphinx, mummies, surviving artwork, and more all hold priceless clues about what life was like in ancient Egypt. This book takes a closer look at the information that archaeology has revealed and the lasting impact of these findings.

"Today, a good century after the first X-rays of mummies, Egyptology has the benefit of all the methods and means at the disposal of forensic medicine. The 'mummy stories' we tell have changed their tone, but they have enjoyed much success, with fantastic scientific and technological results resolving the mysteries of the ancient land of the pharaohs."--from the Foreword Mummies are the things that fascinate us most about ancient Egypt. But what are mummies? How did the Egyptians create them? And why? What became of the people they once were? We are learning more all the time about the cultural processes surrounding mummification and the medical characteristics of ancient Egyptian mummies. In the first part of Mummies and Death in Egypt Françoise Dunand gives an overview of the history of mummification in Egypt from the prehistoric to the Roman period. She thoroughly describes the preparations of the dead (tombs and their furnishings, funerary offerings, ornamentation of the corpse, coffins, and canopic jars), and she includes a separate chapter on the mummification of animals. She links these various practices and behaviors to the religious beliefs of classical Egypt. In the second part of this book, Roger Lichtenberg, a physician and archaeologist, offers a fascinating narrative of his forensic research on mummies, much of it conducted with a portable X-ray machine on archaeological digs. His findings have revealed new information on the ages of the mummified, their causes of death, and the illnesses and injuries they suffered. Together, Dunand and Lichtenberg provide a state-of-the-art account of the science of mummification and its social and religious context.

An introduction to the history and science of mummification in Egypt. Scenes from the walls of tomb chapels, funerary statues, decorated coffins, papyri, and many other artifacts illustrate the complexity of ancient Egyptian funerary beliefs. X-rays and illustrations of unwrapped mummies will interest the general reader and armchair scientist.