Indian 'mummy' under attack
The Egyptians mummified the dead in the belief that the 'ba' (soul) could be lured back into the body if it is kept attractive enough. Whether the 'ba' could enter the body again is difficult to say! But seven different fungi are threatening to invade the Egyptian mummy at the Baroda Museum and Picture Gallery. The mummy is believed to be that of a princess...
Indian mummies
The mummy in the Baroda Museum and Picture Gallery is not the only one of its kind in India. There are six other Egyptian mummies in Indian museums at Mumbai, Calcutta, Lucknow, Jaipur, Hyderabad and Manipal.
One of the oldest among them is the mummy in the Indian Museum in Calcutta; it is around 5,500 years old. Studies have revealed that the man, in his life time, had suffered from spondylitis, arthritis and had several broken ribs and a damaged collar bone.
The mummy at the State Museum, Lucknow, belongs to a young woman and is around 5000 years old.
The 2000-year-old mummy preserved in the Jaipur Archaeological Museum is of an Egyptian woman from a family of priests of the god 'Chem' (generator).
The practice of mummification, confined to the Egyptians, came to an end when Arabs conquered Egypt in AD 643. The oldest known mummies date to 2500 BC.
AM the-week.com |
