Kid Mummies or Statues?
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Ah, yes, mummies.Mummies are the all important famous part of Egypt.Many people think that some mummies in exhibits are statues.But, what people don't know is that they have to look at the texture of the brittle skin closely, and not to judge a book by its cover.The picture on your left is an actual picture of real mummies in an exhibit in a museum.These children died around 1730, no one knows how these children died, but researchers are still looking for that answer.Now, your probably thinking, How do we know that the picture is real, and that mummies are real?Good question.Well mummies are real because Archaeologists found preserved bodies in tombs thousands of years later.Many museums have one or maybe more Egyptian mummies.The most famous of all of the mummies is Ramses II and Tutamkhamen(King Tut)who were pharoahs or rulers of Egypt.You might be able to find actual up-close mummies in a local museum near you.Now, what you have been waiting for in this entire passage, are these mummies real?Yes, these mummies are actually real.Mummies are mainly found inside tombs in Egypt, but actually they can be found all over the world in places like China, Greenland, and even Alaska.Mummies occur when a body is dried after death.If a body is left moist in open space, bacteria will eat away until only a skeleton is left, but if a body is dried and wrapped in certain chemicals, it will remain as a husk of what a person looked like in life.It is also possible to use smoke, extreme sun, dust or cold to dry a body, and sometimes this occurs unexpectedly in nature.Many people wonder what the Egyptians did to a mummy, here, you will find out.First, the Egyptians took out the brain.You are probably wondering, did they just cut the top of the head open and grab the brain?No, they didn't, they didn't touch the head.What they did was they just shoved a metal hook up their nose and pulled the brain out through their nostril.After that, they threw the brain away because they didn't think it was important.After they took out the brain, they cut a slit in the left side of the body(which is called an embalming cut)and took out your inner organs.Meaning;lungs, liver, stomach, and intestines.Each organ was placed in its own jar(called a canopic jar)that was made of stone or clay.The lid looked like the head of a god that was also made of stone or clay.These gods protected the organs.The god Hapy protected the lungs, the god Duamutef protected the stomach, the god Imsety protected the liver, and the god Qebhsenuef protected the intestines.These were the gods chosen to protect the organs because they were the four sons of Horus, the protector of the dead.Next, they took out the heart.In later times, Egyptians took out the heart and replaced it with a scarab beetle made of stone.A scarab beetle is a type of beetle that was sacred to the Egyptians.Afterwards, they chopped up the heart and fed it to the Pharaoh's cat.Once all the organs were removed, they dried out the body with a grainy chemical known as natron, which is found in Egypt.