vranck0602@aol.com wrote:
>
> hello mummifiers,
> i watched a learning channel special on neferatiti (sp?)on saturday and one of the scientists wanted to mummify a human (gotten from the morgue)in the same manner as the egytians. this is in response to whoever said they had to keep changing the salt because the juices kept saturating the salt. the egyptians use something, can't remember the name, that was a combination of salt and baking soda...maybe that would help....
The Egyptians used natron, a form of sodium carbonate naturally present
in the soil there. According to a 1995 article I saved describing how a
scientist mummified a body using Egyptian techniques, " 'Natron is the
key to the whole process...' Natron is a naturally occurring mixture
that is basically baking soda and table salt...The body (was) kept in
conditions similar to the hot, dry climate of Egypt...(it) spent 35 days
in the natron...After the natron became rock hard, Brier knocked it off
the muumy with an iron bar."
The scientist used 650 pounds of the stuff. He also removed the
internal organs and placed packets of natron inside. Perhaps that's the
key: pack the interior of the carcass with your drying material; use
lots of the material to pack the exterior, and maintain hot, arid
conditions during the process.
