Mummification was a common method in the ancient times. Our ancestors believed that body was a gate to the after life, so it had to be preserved by some materials. In this way, the sacred body, accompanied by soul, could start its journey to the eternal life. Lots of efforts have been done to discover the remnants of mummies especially in Egypt, and, first of all, the Pyramids. Although mummification may occur as a result of natural elements: humidity, extreme coldness, lack of air and so forth, but here we face a good example of mummifying by using chemicals.
It’s 3300 B.C… One of the Pharaoh’s belongings is close to death. Her family and companions experience the most dreadful moments in the world. Outside the palace some preparations are being done. In the room specialized for the mummification all the experts are ready. Another world isn’t a far cry, so the officials should equip the body with the fragrant materials, and allow it to rest in peace. Ka, the flying soul, is waiting impatiently to join, and just a desired container can welcome it. Cries arose. The lady in agony is now dead. Three souls departed the body the very moments after death. Now the corpse should be passed through some rooms to gain necessary qualifications for this crucial journey. The agents are ready; they put her on the alter; no need to be sacrificed; she’s already dead. Motionless she lies and lets the agents to purify the body with water. This stage resembles Muslim’s Ghosl after death. Fortunately we don’t have to experience what comes next.
Now we are standing here- in one of the labyrinth leading to pharaoh’s tomb. I can’t remember his exact name. We face a scattered body in debt to mummification for its remaining parts. The corpse is lying peacefully in the coffin. Our research team, this morning, hired some labors to carry the body out of a place somehow like a crypt. A lift was installed at the mouth of the crypt; Ms. Sheriff, an expert of archeology, as the representative of Egypt’s government accompanies us. The multinational team is supposed to go through one the most important discoveries in one of the corridors ending in the Pyramids. The corpse was found totally by chance. All of a sudden a loaded mule plunged; the owner had to leap in to action; surprisingly or not, he found the case of our study. Now we are at the scene.
After a brief face-off I can read her mind and understand the torture she experienced It’s lying on the gurney; After the process of purification with water and scented materials, the body goes through other process; an incision is made in the left side, and all organs including intestines, stomach, lungs, kidneys and et cetera are removed; heart is an exception. The corpse needs its heart in this transition. In the next step they will insert hooks through nostrils, and pull the brain out. It can be discarded soon after.
So cautious we should be not to lose any tricky moments. Just, just a mistake can cause a great loss, the loss of a part of the history; the body will collapse- an evident from the past, an opening to the future. Ms. Sheriff is in charge of the team. Ropes are being sent down. Two experts, one American and the next Swedish take this crucial responsibility; they, standing and staying by the corpse, never dare to make an uncontrolled movement.
The body is covered in natron – a kind of salt. It accelerates dehydration and makes the body dried out; the body should be left outside in the specified place for forty days; When it’s fully dehydrated, it should be wrapped in a natron-soaked bondage which covers it from head to toe; in the last stage An appropriate mask should be used according to its social class.
The whole team is anxious. Just a movement, just an uncontrolled movement can put an end to it; some colleagues are in the laboratory waiting impatiently to meet her. The whole coffin is enrolled in ropes; they are being pulled up bit by bit; all are under the command of somehow corpulent Egyptian lady, Ms. Sheriff. The progress is just about one or two inches per movement. Another problem arises; the mouth of the crypt isn’t large enough to allow the coffin to pass easily; the labors have to be more cautious; just a hit is enough to ruin the whole wishes of the team.
In one of the corridors connected to this part Jessie, sitting on a stool, is removing dust from a jug carefully. Who knows what is expecting her inside? She uses diverse bushes, specialized for one part; each stroke should be planned. No time and chance for a slip.
A robot is passing through the corridors; nobody knows the exact purpose behind the construction of these firmly connected corridors; hidden roads to the pharaoh’s tomb; just through graphics we can have a look on it; archeologists like to penetrate the fact; these corridors were constructed in the walls around the tomb; Bob is monitoring robot by the intervals of one or to seconds; high accuracy is needed; Passing some bumpers, it can’t sustain; Bob is doing his best to remove difficulty; after a five minute hesitation, it can pass the obstacle; the little researcher goes on; after taking several steps, it encounters a closed gate; no way to escape; Bob should interfere; no way even an opening; Bob zooms the camera connected to the robot; there are some cracks and signs on he gate; Mary, Bob’s colleague speculates it’s a door to the next labyrinth or probably to the pharaoh’s tomb; nobody is certain; the only access to the robot is just an opening in the wall of one of the rooms where the research team stays; no progress; nobody can have an access to the mysterious world concealed behind this door; being short of time, discovery is left on the half way.
Charles, the Austrian member, is checking other activities running simultaneously. But now, he is standing by Jessie who is suspended between bewilderment and anxiety. After dust has been removed, Lucy tries to open the lid carefully. Passing centuries have put an airtight seal on it. If you do it in your kitchen, it may seem a piece of cake to screw off and on a jar; if the process doesn’t go well, you can open it by force, but here no force, no additional pressure is allowed. The practical usage of physics rules lies here.
Now it’s time to return to Ms. Sheriff and her team. The exit has been enlarged somehow. I guess they’d better measure it in advanced. Now everything seems so promising; the labors take the coffin and put it on the ground. The whole team is intoxicated. Now it should be sent to the lab. There, the internal part can be seen by x-ray without making even a slight hit.
Jessie did her best to open the lid; no sign of success; it should be sent to the lab; again x-ray can reveal the historical mystery behind the jug sealed with a mixture of mud and a kind of adhesive material common at that time ;now we can just make some speculations; probably it contains some parts of the pharaoh’s body or newly discovered body, some jewelry buried with the body which were left by thieves there, or no simply we face a jug full of edible materials for Egyptian workers sealed during the ages.
Jessie, Bob, Ms. Sheriff and I, the Iranian member of the team, are on the way to lab, burning in the desire of getting more clues from the past. Other members of the group left there earlier with the loot. After a busy day, all try to remain silent and contemplate. Who knows what is expecting us in the lab? A new advantage or no just some proofs to previous discoveries. Result aside, I’m so proud of being a member of this discovery, a new approach to the underground world- the world of the dead.
Yours truly,
S.J.
It’s 3300 B.C… One of the Pharaoh’s belongings is close to death. Her family and companions experience the most dreadful moments in the world. Outside the palace some preparations are being done. In the room specialized for the mummification all the experts are ready. Another world isn’t a far cry, so the officials should equip the body with the fragrant materials, and allow it to rest in peace. Ka, the flying soul, is waiting impatiently to join, and just a desired container can welcome it. Cries arose. The lady in agony is now dead. Three souls departed the body the very moments after death. Now the corpse should be passed through some rooms to gain necessary qualifications for this crucial journey. The agents are ready; they put her on the alter; no need to be sacrificed; she’s already dead. Motionless she lies and lets the agents to purify the body with water. This stage resembles Muslim’s Ghosl after death. Fortunately we don’t have to experience what comes next.
Now we are standing here- in one of the labyrinth leading to pharaoh’s tomb. I can’t remember his exact name. We face a scattered body in debt to mummification for its remaining parts. The corpse is lying peacefully in the coffin. Our research team, this morning, hired some labors to carry the body out of a place somehow like a crypt. A lift was installed at the mouth of the crypt; Ms. Sheriff, an expert of archeology, as the representative of Egypt’s government accompanies us. The multinational team is supposed to go through one the most important discoveries in one of the corridors ending in the Pyramids. The corpse was found totally by chance. All of a sudden a loaded mule plunged; the owner had to leap in to action; surprisingly or not, he found the case of our study. Now we are at the scene.
After a brief face-off I can read her mind and understand the torture she experienced It’s lying on the gurney; After the process of purification with water and scented materials, the body goes through other process; an incision is made in the left side, and all organs including intestines, stomach, lungs, kidneys and et cetera are removed; heart is an exception. The corpse needs its heart in this transition. In the next step they will insert hooks through nostrils, and pull the brain out. It can be discarded soon after.
So cautious we should be not to lose any tricky moments. Just, just a mistake can cause a great loss, the loss of a part of the history; the body will collapse- an evident from the past, an opening to the future. Ms. Sheriff is in charge of the team. Ropes are being sent down. Two experts, one American and the next Swedish take this crucial responsibility; they, standing and staying by the corpse, never dare to make an uncontrolled movement.
The body is covered in natron – a kind of salt. It accelerates dehydration and makes the body dried out; the body should be left outside in the specified place for forty days; When it’s fully dehydrated, it should be wrapped in a natron-soaked bondage which covers it from head to toe; in the last stage An appropriate mask should be used according to its social class.
The whole team is anxious. Just a movement, just an uncontrolled movement can put an end to it; some colleagues are in the laboratory waiting impatiently to meet her. The whole coffin is enrolled in ropes; they are being pulled up bit by bit; all are under the command of somehow corpulent Egyptian lady, Ms. Sheriff. The progress is just about one or two inches per movement. Another problem arises; the mouth of the crypt isn’t large enough to allow the coffin to pass easily; the labors have to be more cautious; just a hit is enough to ruin the whole wishes of the team.
In one of the corridors connected to this part Jessie, sitting on a stool, is removing dust from a jug carefully. Who knows what is expecting her inside? She uses diverse bushes, specialized for one part; each stroke should be planned. No time and chance for a slip.
A robot is passing through the corridors; nobody knows the exact purpose behind the construction of these firmly connected corridors; hidden roads to the pharaoh’s tomb; just through graphics we can have a look on it; archeologists like to penetrate the fact; these corridors were constructed in the walls around the tomb; Bob is monitoring robot by the intervals of one or to seconds; high accuracy is needed; Passing some bumpers, it can’t sustain; Bob is doing his best to remove difficulty; after a five minute hesitation, it can pass the obstacle; the little researcher goes on; after taking several steps, it encounters a closed gate; no way to escape; Bob should interfere; no way even an opening; Bob zooms the camera connected to the robot; there are some cracks and signs on he gate; Mary, Bob’s colleague speculates it’s a door to the next labyrinth or probably to the pharaoh’s tomb; nobody is certain; the only access to the robot is just an opening in the wall of one of the rooms where the research team stays; no progress; nobody can have an access to the mysterious world concealed behind this door; being short of time, discovery is left on the half way.
Charles, the Austrian member, is checking other activities running simultaneously. But now, he is standing by Jessie who is suspended between bewilderment and anxiety. After dust has been removed, Lucy tries to open the lid carefully. Passing centuries have put an airtight seal on it. If you do it in your kitchen, it may seem a piece of cake to screw off and on a jar; if the process doesn’t go well, you can open it by force, but here no force, no additional pressure is allowed. The practical usage of physics rules lies here.
Now it’s time to return to Ms. Sheriff and her team. The exit has been enlarged somehow. I guess they’d better measure it in advanced. Now everything seems so promising; the labors take the coffin and put it on the ground. The whole team is intoxicated. Now it should be sent to the lab. There, the internal part can be seen by x-ray without making even a slight hit.
Jessie did her best to open the lid; no sign of success; it should be sent to the lab; again x-ray can reveal the historical mystery behind the jug sealed with a mixture of mud and a kind of adhesive material common at that time ;now we can just make some speculations; probably it contains some parts of the pharaoh’s body or newly discovered body, some jewelry buried with the body which were left by thieves there, or no simply we face a jug full of edible materials for Egyptian workers sealed during the ages.
Jessie, Bob, Ms. Sheriff and I, the Iranian member of the team, are on the way to lab, burning in the desire of getting more clues from the past. Other members of the group left there earlier with the loot. After a busy day, all try to remain silent and contemplate. Who knows what is expecting us in the lab? A new advantage or no just some proofs to previous discoveries. Result aside, I’m so proud of being a member of this discovery, a new approach to the underground world- the world of the dead.
Yours truly,
S.J.
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