Current Projects: The Case of the Glowing Mummy

[ask_arealdoctor]

I have been up all night working on this project. I'm sorry I was so snippy about it yesterday (YES JACK, I'M ON MY PERIOD. DEAL WITH IT). Not only was it very rude of me, but as it turns out I did not give the mummy the attention it deserves. I suppose that once my surface scans detected human remains, I was less than interested in going

Comments

[askfor_bananas]

Wait, what? WHO?

No, wait, I'm not supposed to know anything about that! Forget I said anything! Just not literally this time.

[ask_arealdoctor]

Just walk on by, Doctor. There's a dear. :)

[gwen_e_cooper]

I'm averting my eyes, Martha. I had nightmares after seeing The Mummy and remembered learning about the Egyptians sucking bits out through the nasal cavity before mummification. :o(

[bone_lady]

Well first the brain has to be puréed, usually with a wire of some sort, then you can simply sit the head up, tilt it forward and it all runs out. It wasn't 100% effective though. We still find brain bit and dura matter when we look at Egyptian mummies. Fun stuff really. You should see what the dried up organs look like. Either way, there isn't sucking, just tilting. :)

Mummified private bits are always fun too, especially if they have some sort of disease.

There was this one time we did a real-time mummification in the lab. Jesus the amount of natron was unbelievable!

[ask_arealdoctor]

The used hooks to, didn't they? I remember reading something about them pulling brain bits out through the nose with something like a button-hook.

You did a mummification? That must have been brilliant fun! I'm envious!

[bone_lady]

Indeed you are correct!

It is an interesting process, mummification. One of my colleagues, Don Brothwell, has published on how his team carried it. It's been documented and may be on archive in the hub.

It is neat to recreate historical aspects of mortuary practices. It's one of the things paleopathologists love to do if everything clears with human subjects and donors have given their bodies for the purpose.

[oh_doask]

You'll leave it on the table, yeah?

IT'S OKAY, I DON'T MIND THE TEETH!

[ask_arealdoctor]

No, John. It's awfully brittle and I don't want you to break the jaw off.

[oh_doask]

I'd use a lot of lube, Martha.

IT'S DONNA!

And Jack already gets the tits.

[ask_arealdoctor]

No, John. Why don't you go play with the cephalopoid instead? It's more pliable, and it has suckers!

[ask_captainjack]

DONNA!?

How mummified were the tits?

[ask_arealdoctor]

Flat as pancakes, honey. All the drying out and binding, you know.

[ask_captainjack]

That makes me upset! Did they flatten before or after death do you think?

[ask_arealdoctor]

After, most likely. She didn't die of old age.

Wait, wait, why are you even wondering about this? Jack! That's disgusting!

[neifile7]

You realize that mummy trouble is what you get for naming your cat "Tomb Raider."