Chapter 13 13

No matter which monument museum you visit, children always ask where the mummy is, and adults also gather around the mummy.Mummies are always the most eye-catching exhibits.People are always puzzled by their own kind who have been dead for thousands of years and have been dehydrated and embalmed. Many mummies have survived thousands of years and are still intact, as if the passage of time has not affected them at all.What kind of strange civilization made mummies come into being?Why did people at that time firmly deny that death is eternal?Mummies are messengers from the long-gone world, and though they are speechless, they tell us many things by which we can unravel these mysteries.

It is a common desire for people to protect the body after death from corruption and decomposition.According to the "Bible? The Gospel of John", the tormented body of Jesus Christ was preserved by soaking "about 100 pounds of myrrh and agarwood mixture"; the remains of Alexander the Great of Macedonia were preserved with honey; and Brandy was used to preserve the remains of the British admiral Lord Nelson.In modern times, the remains of Lenin and Mao Zedong have also been embalmed, although we don't yet know what method was used.But as early as ancient Egypt, the technology of embalming corpses had been developed to a very perfect level.

The earliest mummies formed naturally in the sandy soil of Egypt scorched by the hot dry air. The 5,000-year-old bodies, which were excavated from shallow desert burials, were originally buried without coffins at all. In the era of the ancient pharaohs, it became popular to build sealed tombs, hoping to protect the corpses from predators.As a result, the industry of processing corpses into mummies to rival the antiseptic function of the desert came into being. The oldest and complete mummies known to exist are the few carefully decorated corpses from the Fifth Dynasty (about 2500 BC).From then on the mummy-maker's skill continued uninterrupted for 3,000 years, reaching its golden age in the tenth century BC.

Most of the mummies showed a certain human expression, some smiling, some frowning, some dumbfounded, some satisfied, and some seemed to be dreaming.Shrunken and swarthy though they were, their posture looked as if in eternal sleep, neither frightening nor repulsive.Royal male mummies usually have their arms folded across their chests, while females have their arms naturally at their sides. The purpose of processing the dead body is to preserve the identity of the deceased in the underworld. In 1976, the display cabinet containing the mummy of Ramses II in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, due to poor sealing, the air inside was mixed with fungi, causing the mummy to contract the so-called "museum disease" and urgently needed to be treated in France.When the mummy arrived in Paris, France gave it a royal reception.As the first ancient Egyptian mummy body to visit abroad, His Majesty received a salute from the guard of honor of the Republic at the airport.After the French experts cured his disease with the drill ship's coaxial cable, they sent him back to the country.

■ Strange discovery On May 18, 1992, the semi-official Egyptian newspaper Almighty Allah told a strange discovery. The Egyptian Museum in Cairo houses some of the best-preserved mummies in the world.Thousands of years ago, they lay in luxurious coffins, in golden and wooden chests nestled with sarcophagi. The temperature and humidity in the museum caused individual mummies to begin to rot, forcing authorities to come up with a solution as soon as possible.Experts were invited to Egypt to examine the mummy.Radiation does not come from an X-ray machine, but already exists.A radiology expert also said that every time the measuring instrument came close to certain mummies, an alarm would go off.

Where did the radioactive material come from?Is it natural?Such as uranium ore.Uranium is radioactive, but first we know that without a Geiger counter it is simply impossible to determine whether something is radioactive or not, because the rays are invisible.Yet the Geiger counter and some other measuring instruments are inventions of this century.The ancient Egyptians did not know this, and logically they could not have known certain radioactive minerals.So why are mummies radioactive? Today we are used to treating certain vegetables and fruits from developing countries with short-wave radiation.The vast majority of dates and bananas sitting on your coffee table have been irradiated.Why do you want to do this?Because the completely harmless short-wave radiation kills certain microbes that cause food to rot, the treated fruit lasts longer.

What does this have to do with Shu Nai?Could it be that they were also radioactively treated in order to preserve them for a longer period of time? This kind of speculation can only lead to incredible results, which means that the ancient Egyptians knew about the radioactive source and used it. Determining the location of weak radioactive material requires the aid of measuring instruments.Perhaps some unidentified Almighty gave the priests a brilliant idea of ​​how to dispose of the corpses of their revered ancestors so that they would not be gnawed by microbes for millennia. There is still no consensus on whether the mummies in the Egyptian Museum are radioactive or not.

■5,000-year-old artificial heart The former Soviet Union dug up a 4,000-year-old female corpse near Xiwa Lake.The body showed that she was not only hit by bullets and the like, but also underwent surgery. An archaeological team jointly composed of Japan and Egypt discovered a mummy of a boy about 10 years old in a pyramid, about 5,000 years ago. Strangely, there was a heart-like mummy in his left chest cavity. The advanced instruments were installed through precise surgery. To say that the ancient Egyptians could perform heart surgery, most people will think it is a fantasy, but in fact it is.

Archaeologists from Germany, Belgium, and Egypt also found an artificial heart in the chest cavity of a mummy after excavating ancient tombs in Egypt for 15 months. The artificial heart disease found here is exactly the same. The mummified female corpse was about 35-40 years old, and because she was suffering from terminal heart disease, she was given an artificial heart transplant.This artificial heart.As big as an adult fist, it was made of plastic and an unknown alloy, similar to the artificial hearts now widely used, and the operation may have lasted weeks. "Even in this day and age of science, we are surprised that this kind of surgery is not so popular," the scientist said.

As we all know, heart transplantation has gone through a difficult journey. The first human heart transplant was performed in 1962. The patient died of pneumonia 18 days after the operation.The artificial heart was officially implanted into the human body in December 1982, and the man lived only 111 days, 17 hours and 53 minutes.Could it be that the clever Egyptians created this miracle on earth 5,000 years ago. ■Sacrifices in the Valley of the Kings The Valley of the Kings is a place full of mystery, and no one knows its ins and outs.Carter writes: "We imagined this as a deserted canyon, haunted in the hearts of the Egyptians. The luxurious caves of the past have been ransacked, and the entrances of many caves are left open. Wild foxes, sand falcons and bats However, despite the dilapidated condition of the mausoleum, the valley still attracts people's interest. It was even used to bury nuns at the time (about 900 BC)."

After 1000 years, the first group of hermits who believed in Christ came to the Valley of the Kings, and they lived in the corridor of the tomb. "The luxury of the emperor is now in ruins, and the king's underground palace has become a hermit's cave." However, this situation is not permanent. History has destined the Valley of the Kings to become the hometown of emperors and thieves.British traveler Richard Pocock wrote the first modern report on the Valley of the Kings.Guided by a local imam, he inspected 14 open tombs.But this place is not peaceful, there are gangs entrenched in the Khulna Mountains. 26 years later, when James Bruce arrived in the Valley of the Kings, he heard that someone tried to drive out the gangs, but in vain. "They are all fugitives, and if they are caught elsewhere, they will be sentenced to death. Osman Bey, the governor of the ancient Gergo governor, did not allow these people to continue to cause trouble. He ordered people to prepare a large amount of dry firewood, led the army to surround the mountainous area where the bandits were concentrated, and then All the caves were set on fire, and most of the gangsters were burned to death. However, the rest gradually expanded their ranks and continued their activities.” Bruce plans to spend the night in Ramses III's tomb.Just as he was touching the reliefs on the wall, the local guides who accompanied him were frightened to death, threw away the torch in their hands, and began to curse.The fire flickered and gradually died out, "They asserted that once they leave the cave, there will be catastrophe, which is creepy!" Bruce had no choice but to leave the cave, and walked along the valley in the twilight with the only follower who did not run away, intending to return to the cave. Go on a boat anchored on the Nile.At this moment, there was a sudden shout, and countless stones flew towards them from the cliff.Bruce and his servants shot to resist, and when they got back to the boat, they set off and left immediately, and never came again. Thirty years later, when Napoleon's "Egyptian Committee" inspected the ancient tombs in the Valley of the Kings, they were also attacked by bandits from Thebes, and the bandits fired. Today, the Valley of the Kings is a place that tourists from all over the world yearn for.Many years ago, a group of extremely precious cultural relics were produced here.At present it is a tourist spot, with guides driving donkeys, a large number of tourists from the Kirk Inn in Dyer, El Barri, and English-speaking Arabs urging tourists to "come and see the king's palace." tomb." The guide told tourists: "The main tombs and Tutankhamun's tomb are open three mornings a week, and there are electric lights for people to visit." Thinking of the long history of the Nile Valley, thinking of the emperors and people of ancient Egypt, these words of the guide It feels apt and a little funny. In 1992, archaeologists made an extremely important discovery in the Valley of the Kings, which caused a huge shock in the West. Its importance is only comparable to that of Schliemann's excavation of Troy. However, Del El Barri's discovery a few decades ago was no less, and it took a rather tortuous plot. An American bought a complete ancient papyrus document in Luxor.He returned to Europe and invited several experts to make an appraisal. At this time, an expert pulled him out for a private discussion.The American thought that there was no need to worry about safety issues when he arrived in Europe, so he told the whole story of obtaining the papyrus.The expert immediately wrote to a person in Cairo the details of the incident, which later revealed a horrific case of tomb robbery. Professor Gaston Maspero of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo was surprised when he got the letter.There are two reasons that surprised him: first, because his museum let go of such a precious cultural relic.In the past 6 years, rare cultural relics of unknown origin and high scientific value have repeatedly appeared on the antique black market.Some buyers were willing to tell the story of the purchase after they left Egypt safely, but no merchant was found to sell these things.Several buyers said that the seller was a large man of stature, but the specifics were different. Some said he was Arab; A rich dean.Another reason Maspero was surprised was that the artifact, recently removed from Egypt, belonged to the tomb of a twenty-first dynasty pharaoh whose location had not been identified at the time.So who has discovered them? After studying several cultural relics that were smuggled out of the country, Professor Maspero believed that they belonged to the tombs of several kings.Could it be that some modern tomb robbers will find several ancient tombs at once?Maspero thinks that the thieves may have just happened to dig a huge tomb that buried several kings at the same time. Maspero thought the idea might be right, and it might be the starting point for a major discovery.Something should be done.There was nothing the Egyptian police could do, so he had to do the reconnaissance himself.In secret, he sent a young assistant to Luxor. After the assistant abandoned the boat and landed on the Nile River, he took care not to be an archaeologist in all his actions.He lived in the same hotel as the American who had bought the papyrus, and walked the market day and night, pretending to be a rich European, with his pockets full of gold coins, and occasionally buying a few things. is the highest price paid.Some antique dealers are slowly willing to talk privately to him, so he will give them more tips and be careful not to arouse their suspicion.Many times someone sold him fake local antiques. Some of these people were legal dealers and some were smugglers, but none of them could fool this young man.Slowly he was respected by the antique dealers, and at the same time gradually gained their trust. One day, an antique dealer squatted at the door of the store and summoned the young man with gestures.After a while, a statuette was in the hands of the Egyptian Museum librarian.He tried his best to control his emotions without showing any signs of excitement.He squatted down next to the antique dealer, while bargaining the price, he repeatedly looked at the statue in his hand.It can be seen from the inscription on the statue that this cultural relic is a sacrificial object in a mausoleum in the 21st Dynasty, and it has a history of 3,000 years. After a long bargain, the young man finally bought the thing.He put on an air of disapproval, claiming he was looking for something bigger and more precious.On the same day, he was introduced to a tall, middle-aged Arab named Abd al-Rasul.This man has a large family, and he is the head of the family.He took out several ancient relics to show the young man, all of which were authentic works from the 19th and 20th dynasties.The young man deliberately negotiated the price with the Arab for several days, and finally he was arrested.He believed he had caught the tomb robber. Is this man really a grave robber? ■ Strange experience. Abd al-Rasul and several members of his family were taken to Daoud Pasha, the governor of Kenai Province, where the governor personally presided over the interrogation.Countless witnesses appeared in court, unanimously proving the innocence of the defendant. All the residents of the village where Abd al-Rasul lived swore to prove that he and his whole family were innocent, and that their family was a more prestigious elder in the village. resident.The young staff member of the museum, thinking that his denunciation was very sure, had sent a confident telegram to Cairo.Under the circumstances, he had no choice but to watch as Abd al-Rasul's family was acquitted for lack of evidence.He complained to higher officials, who shrugged.At last he confronted the prefect, who looked at him in astonishment, and then solemnly asked him to be patient. The young man waited day after day, and then sent another telegram to Cairo to reiterate the content of the first telegram.The lack of clues, and the oriental patience of the governor, sapped his enthusiasm.However, the governor is clear about his rule. Howard Carter recorded an experience told to him by an old worker he hired.The worker was arrested for theft as a young man and brought to meet the governor.For Governor Daoud Pasha, who is known for his strictness, the young man was already in awe, but when he found out that he was not taken to the court, but to the governor's private residence, he couldn't help becoming more suspicious.It was a hot day, and the governor was lazily lying in a large bathtub made by pottery. Then Daoud Pasha stared at him intently, a silent scrutiny that terrified the young criminal out of his wits. "His eyes seemed to penetrate me," the worker told Carter. "I felt my legs go weak and I could barely stand. Finally he said to me slowly: 'This is the first time you have come to see me. Me, you were released. But you have to be careful not to come again.’ I was so scared that I immediately decided to quit, and I haven’t committed any crimes since then.” The interrogation was still fruitless, and Daoud used cruel means to exert his authority , which is quite effective.The young man from Cairo was sick in bed with a high fever at the moment, and the news was beyond his expectation.A month after the initial trial, a relative and accomplice of Abd al-Rasul confessed to the governor the truth of the case.The governor notified the young scientist of this situation and ordered the interrogation to continue.The results of the interrogation showed that Abd al-Rasul's hometown, Korna Village, itself was the lair of tomb robbers. Since the 13th century, every family in the village has been engaged in tomb robbery, which has been passed down from father to son without interruption.Such a huge gang of tomb robbers is indeed unprecedented. The most important discovery of the Abd al-Rasul gang is the mass burial of Deir al-Bari.The exposure of this tomb to the robbery was purely accidental, and the second was caused by the social environment.Six years before this, in 1875, Abd al-Rasul accidentally discovered a hidden cave on a steep fault between the Valley of the Kings and Del El Barri. Abd al-Rasul struggled to climb up the cliff, and after entering the cave, there was a spacious tomb with many mummies inside.It is roughly estimated that the buried treasures are enough for his whole family to enjoy for a lifetime—as long as they are kept secret, they will be safe. Abd al-Rasul only revealed the secret to a few key members of the family, who solemnly swore to keep all the treasures where they belong, as an asset of the whole family in the bank, and to use them at any time as needed .It is unbelievable that the secret was kept strictly for 6 years, during which the family made a fortune.But on July 5, 1881, it was Abd al-Rasul who brought representatives of the Cairo Museum to the opening in the cliff. Unfortunately, the representative of the museum who went to the ancient tomb this time was neither the young worker who exposed the robbers nor Dr. Maspero who originally organized the investigation.The young man's second telegram came at a time when Maspero was away on business, so the telegram was not received at all.Now because of the need to hurry up, we had to send another person, this person is the younger brother of the famous Egyptologist Heinrich Brugesch, and Emil Brugesbey who was in charge of the preservation work of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo at that time.When Bruggersbey arrived in Luxor, the young man who successfully solved the case was lying in bed with a fever. Bruggersbey went to visit the governor and had a courtesy meeting.Relevant parties agree that this ancient tomb should be sealed up by the government to prevent further theft. On the morning of July 5, Brugesh was accompanied by an Arab assistant and Abd al-Rasul to the ancient tomb.The subsequent experience reminded him of the story of Aladdin's unexpected treasure in "The Arabian Nights"; what happened in the next 9 days was unforgettable for his life. After climbing a steep mountain road, Abd el Rasul stopped and pointed them to a cave that was hidden by stones.The location of the cave is so remote and so concealed that it cannot be recognized, it is no wonder that no one has discovered it for 3,000 years. Abd al-Rasul removed a coil of rope from his shoulders, put one end into the hole, and signaled Brugesh to descend along the rope.Without hesitation, Brugesh left the suspicious guide and the reliable Arab assistant and went down the cave alone. He gripped the rope tightly, and descended step by step alternately with his hands, but he was vigilant in his heart: who knows if that cunning thief is up to something! Of course he hoped that there would be a major discovery, but he couldn't imagine what the bottom of the cave looked like. The shaft was about 35 feet deep. He reached the bottom of the cave safely, turned on the flashlight, walked forward a few steps, turned a corner, and saw several huge sarcophagi in front of him. The largest sarcophagus is placed beside the entrance of the corridor. The inscription on the coffin shows that the coffin is the mummy of Sisos I. When Belzoni arrived in the Valley of the Kings in October 1817, it was this mummy that could not be found in the original burial site.The flash of the flashlight saw more sarcophagi, and countless precious sacrificial objects were scattered on the ground.Bruges walked in while clearing the road, and finally reached the central tomb.The tomb was so huge that the weak light from the flashlight could not reach the side.Numerous sarcophagi are scattered in the room, some have been pried open, and some are still sealed.Each mummy is surrounded by a large number of funerary objects and ornaments.These remains were the heroes of a generation of ancient Egypt, and Brugesh felt a sense of shock when he was in them, as if he couldn't breathe for a while. He patrolled carefully, sometimes crawling on hands and feet, sometimes getting up and moving forward.He discovered the mummy of Amosis I (1580-1555 B.C.), the pharaoh famous for exorcising the last "nomadic king" of the savage Hyksos.Brugesch also found the mummy of Amenophis I (1555-1545 BC); Amenophis I later became the patron saint of this Thebes cemetery.Many of the sarcophagi filled with alkali belonged to lesser-known Egyptian monarchs, but he finally discovered that among them were two of the most prestigious pharaohs. Over the centuries, without the need for archaeologists or historians, they have long been famous. up.The successive important discoveries were so sudden that Brugge had to sit on the ground with a flashlight in his hand to gather his composure.He also found Tothmis III (1501-1447 BC) And the mummy of Ramses II (1298-1232 BC), it is said that Moses, the founder of the law of Judaism and the Western world, grew up during the reign of Ramses II.These two pharaohs reigned for 54 years and 66 years respectively. They were not only the heroes who opened up the territory, but also good at governing the country. Egypt was stable for a long time during their rule. Brugsch was very excited and felt that it was really beautiful.When examining the inscriptions on the sarcophagus, he soon saw a record of "mummy travel".Reading this history reminded him of how the monks ran around the Valley of the Kings night after night, trying their best to protect the remains of these pharaohs from being looted and desecrated.He imagined how these people painstakingly lifted the sarcophagi from the original mausoleum one by one, transported them to Sil El Barri through several post stations, and then refilled them with new sarcophagi arranged in rows.Obviously, those who presided over this work must have been full of fear, and everything was done in extreme haste.Some of the sarcophagi were unloaded and could not be leveled in time, and they are still leaning against the wall of the tomb. Later, he read some inscriptions on the pomegranate in Cairo, which recorded the whole story of the monks transporting the remains of the emperor, which was very touching to read. As a result of the inventory, there are no less than 40 king's remains concentrated here. 40 mummies!These 40 people were all worshiped as gods when they ruled Egypt. Their remains lay there for 3,000 years and then came into contact with strangers. Him, Emil Bruggersbey. ■Ancient Secret Recipe Although the rulers of ancient Egypt made extremely thoughtful arrangements for their own immortality, they were often pessimistic: "Those who have built granite mansions and created the halls in the pyramids have used superb skills to create The altar of the beautiful is as blank as the altar of the multitude who have accomplished nothing and committed themselves to the abyss." Although they are worried about Zhongzhong, they are still constantly strengthening their precautions so that their remains can be preserved forever after death.Herodotus has a passage describing the local funeral customs he heard in Egypt: "After the death of a dignitary, the women of the whole family immediately smear mud on their heads, and sometimes even on their faces. Then the dead The body was kept at home, and he went out to walk around the city. Clothes were tied tightly with straps, their breasts were bare, and they beat themselves as they walked.Wherever they went, all the women in relatives' families also acted in the same way.Men are dressed in the same attire, separated from women, and also beat their breasts.After this ritual, the body is transported for embalming. " When it comes to the emperor's burial and tomb robbery, we have to talk about a closely related issue, that is, the production of mummies. The word "mummy" has several meanings. The twelfth-century Arab traveler Abd al-Latif spoke of "mummy" as a cheap medicine.There is "Mumiya" or "Mumiyayi" in Arabic, which means pitch or "Jewish resin" in Abd al-Latif's works.Sometimes this substance oozes from mountain rocks, as is found on the mummy hill in Persia Drabgaard.The mummy Abd Allatif refers to is a mixture of pitch and myrrh resin.Until the 16th and 17th centuries, and even nearly 100 years ago, a kind of traumatic medicine for treating fractures was generally sold in the market, and pharmacists called it "mummy".Another meaning of mummy is the hair and nails cut from living people. Wizards believe that these things are representative of the whole body and can be used to drive away evil spirits; in modern times, "mummy" only refers to embalmed corpses, especially intact ones. corpses of ancient Egyptians. There are two kinds of mummies: one is natural; the other is artificial.Natural mummies have not undergone special chemical treatment, and rely on favorable natural conditions to keep them durable for a long time.The Franciscan monastery in Palmol, the Abbey of the Great St. Bernard, the crypt of Bremen Cathedral, and Quedlinburg are all natural mummies.In modern times, it is still believed that there is a difference between natural and artificial mummies. However, Elliott Smith has done a lot of research work, and Douglas Deley has analyzed Tutankhamun's mummy. They found that the reason why Egyptian mummies are not bad for a long time , mainly due to the dry climate of the country on the Nile and the lack of bacteria in the desert and air, not because of the preservatives used in making mummies.Some of the corpses dug up in the confiscated homes did not have coffins at all, let alone embalmed, and they also became mummies.Mummies unearthed in many raids have stood the test of time better than bodies that have undergone extensive procedures.Many processed mummies were either rotten or glued together and became unrecognizable. Although a large amount of rosin, asphalt and sesame oil were applied to these corpses back then, and even as recorded on the Leander papyrus, " The spring water of El Lautain, the natron of Elediaspolis, and the milk of Chiem." In the nineteenth century, there was a popular saying that the ancient Egyptians had a chemical recipe.To this day, completely reliable records have been found about the process of making mummies.But we now know at least that the chemical treatment at that time was no better than religious prayers in terms of the effect of preserving mummies.In addition, we should also consider the fact that there have been many changes in the technique of mummification over thousands of years.Mariette found that the color of the Memphis mummies was black, thick and brittle due to the early production period; the later Thebes mummies were yellow, covered with a layer of skin, and often not stiff.This difference cannot be explained only by the different production years. According to Herodotus, there are three methods of making mummies. The first method is twice as expensive as the second method, and the third method is the cheapest and can be used by low-level officials.Generally, the corpses of farmers do not undergo anti-corrosion processing, and can only be preserved naturally in the dry Egyptian climate Industry secrets The Greek historian Herodotus made a personal report on the mummification process in Egypt in the fifth century BC .This classic explains that there are three categories of funeral rites.The first class is the luxurious funeral ceremony. The bearers first carried the body into a ferry boat moored on the Nile and transported it to the west bank.Then, led by a priest and escorted by the funeral procession, the dead were picked up in embalming tents. There, the corpses are first cleaned, and then the embalmers work to the monotonous birthing songs chanted by the monks.The leading embalmer wears a jackal mask.This may be because the dead were only buried shallowly in the desert earlier, and jackals often sniffed and foraged in the tombs. Therefore, Anubis, the god with a head like a jackal and who specially received the dead, appeared later. Next up is the dreaded knifeman.According to the records of the ancient Greek historian Diodorus, the man used a piece of "Ethiopian stone" to make an incision on the left side of the abdomen of the deceased, leaving a planing hole about 5 inches long, and then fled the scene desperately.Others threw stones at him and insulted him freely, which was a symbolic punishment for his "violation of the human body".At this time, other craftsmen took out most of the internal organs, put them into four stone vessels after embalming, and buried them with the prepared mummy later.The dead man's brain is also cleanly and skillfully removed.Only the heart remained in place, because at that time people believed that the heart was the place where the conscience was stored, and it would be weighed in the underworld. After the cavity of the chest and abdomen is washed with palm wine, it is also coated with liquid resin to prevent parasites from eating. About three-quarters of the human body is water.How to dehydrate without damaging tissue is the secret of the mummification industry.Modern scholars believe that they used dried cannon base (a natural substance containing hydrocarbons and sodium chloride) It takes 35 to 40 days to absorb the water from the dead body if it is piled up around the body to absorb water. This period is mentioned in the "Bible? Genesis"; after Jacob died in Egypt, Joseph "commanded the doctor who waited on him to fumigate his father with spices..., the custom of fumigation is tomorrow,..." After the corpse is dehydrated, the beautician fills it with linen or sawdust to restore its plump appearance. The beautician covers the incision on the abdomen with a small piece of gold, dyes fingernails and toenails red with henna, braids the female dead's hair, and adorns the dead with gemstones for eyes.Special care is always taken when manipulating the face, as facial features are the main basis for identifying who the deceased is.After this, the corpse was rubbed with perfume and coated with liquid resin.Many mummified specimens still smell of this aromatic to this day. After these treatments, the original human body becomes an empty shell, which can be safely wrapped up with linen.The wrapping process takes two weeks and requires at least 1,500 yards of linen tape.Sometimes the outermost layer is also wrapped with a pattern of contrasting colors. ■The whole process of mummy processing lasted 70 days. After the completion, the most important part of the whole set of funeral ceremony, that is, the symbolic "mouth opening ceremony" will be held.It is said that by doing so, the deceased can breathe, eat and drink, and he can also defend himself before Yan Jun in the underworld.During this ceremony, the mummy was lifted upright, and the priest touched its face wrapped with a cloth band with a woodworking axe, and said in his mouth: "You are alive! You are still young!".The last item is for the relatives and friends of the deceased to host a banquet and send the mummy to the underworld to travel.The mummy will pass through this dark world, and finally reach the court of Osiris, son of heaven and earth. Remains are mummified in the hope that the dead will "become" Osiris after death: but just getting to Osiris is far from easy.This journey requires the dead to cross dire dark ravines.Demons would keep infesting his ferry.He also had to pass through a gate guarded by two ferocious poisonous snakes.If all goes well, he will finally come before the grim Osiris.Osiris sits in the middle, flanked by 42 imps, and he will give the order to weigh the dead man's heart.The deceased also carried a scarab carved from precious gemstones as an amulet under the shroud, with a sentence engraved on it, which means please the heart "don't give testimony that damages the owner."However, if it is found during the weighing that the end of the balance with the heart of the deceased has sunk due to the crimes of the deceased, the deceased will be immediately swallowed by the "ghost-eating beast" with the head of a crocodile.The dead who are pardoned can move on, and finally come to a wonderful world of bliss, which looks like Egypt. To make the deceased feel comfortable after death, the tombs are decorated with sculptures and paintings showing scenes from the good life.The tomb also contains food, drink, furniture, washing and dressing utensils (including combs and razors), etc.If it is a rich and powerful person, gold will be placed in the tomb.Apparently, the creed at that time was: "When a person dies, he can take his wealth with him." (In order to find these treasures, tomb robbers dug holes into the tomb as soon as they found it. Buried in the "Valley of the Kings" to the west of Thebes, the tomb was secretly excavated hundreds of feet into the limestone cliffs. It was deserted and scorpion-heaped, but even so, the tomb was ransacked.Some of the mummies now on display in Cairo bear signs of rough treatment). On the eve of the extinction of the custom of mummification, the last and most remarkable flower bloomed, the mummified portrait.This portrait is painted on a thin wooden panel over the mummy's cloth-covered face.Many of these portraits are so realistically drawn that even the stubble on the chin of a young man is not missed.These portraits eerily conjure up the dead man peering out through his cocoon-like mask, as if to say, "Look! Here I am - victorious over death!" ■挑战“永恒”之神1798年，拿破仑作为一位正在缔造帝国的年轻将军入侵了埃及，当时，他随军带去了一批科学家。这些科学家对埃及的古迹首次做了系统的考察。他们发掘出的木乃伊使他们大为惊愕。这些木乃伊的耳朵、鼻子、脸颊，嘴唇、眼皮都保持着自然状态，连每一根头发也都牢固地粘在头皮上。 法国远征军的这一举动引起一场文化上的震动。整个欧洲一下子就害上了“埃及热”。据说，拿破仑曾将两具木乃伊运回法国，让他的情妇约瑟芬作为客厅里的摆设。 此后，数以百计的木乃伊开始出现在博物馆和私人的古董柜里，人人都想要获得这些埃及死人，这种怪癣在社会上风靡一时。有个英国外科医生托马斯?J?佩蒂格鲁，绰号“木乃伊佩蒂格鲁”，曾以相当于每具150美元的价格买下一些木乃伊，然后卖票赚钱，当着观众把木乃伊的布带剥下来。在埃及各旅游点的周围，如雨后春笋一般出现了兜售伪造木乃伊的买卖，生意十分兴隆。 今天，埃及已禁止木乃伊出口，但数以百计的木乃伊不断被发掘出来。随着它们的陆续出士，它们正填补我们历史知识的空白。学者们借助于X光、显微镜、皮尺和计算机来对他们进行“端详”。借助于这些技术，80年前在阿孟霍特普二世的坟墓中发现的一具身份不明的木乃伊，已被准确无误地证实为泰伊王后，即阿孟霍特普三世的妻子，也就是图坦卡门国王的祖母。埃及博物馆在确认这一甄别的准确性之后，已计划把这具木乃伊移放在博物馆内，让她躺在她合法丈夫的身旁。 有一具与梅凯尔王后一起下葬的木乃伊，长期以来一直被认为是一个孩子的干尸，后来经过X光验查，才发现是一只狒狒的木乃伊。为什么要把狒狒与王后一起下葬？这是一个难解之谜，新技术对此也同样无能为力。 现在我们还了解到，牙疼病同样也折磨着古埃及人，就连法老也不例外。密执安大学牙医学院有一个研究小组在埃及进行研究二作，他们提出了一个很长的牙病清单，上面开列了诸如臼齿由于经常咀嚼带有细砂砾的面包和蔬菜而磨损到牙根等病例。我们现代人所遇到的每一种病痛，几乎也都搅扰过当时的埃及人。另外，木乃伊也反映出当时在隐蔽的角落里潜伏着暴力。有一个法老的前额上发现有斧头砍过的伤口。有个王子的面部呈现痛苦扭曲状，似是由于中毒而死。 英国人类学家兼解剖学家G?埃利奥特?史密斯在1912年曾经承认，展览和研究木乃伊可能会被认为“冒犯民族感情”或“亵渎圣物”。可他又接着说：“既然有了这些有价值的历史文物，那么，尽可能充分和仔细地弄清它们的来龙去脉，无疑是我们的职责。”归根结蒂，我们对此事感到兴趣，正好证明法老的庶民们在制作木乃伊方面取得了多么大的成功。他们以顽强的毅力和精湛的技艺同时间的损蚀作斗争，可以说是对“永恒”之神进行挑战，而且他们几乎获得了成功。 ■空前绝后的财富1898年，埃及文物管理局局长劳莱特在挖开阿门诺菲斯二世等人的陵墓时，也发现了许多“转地木乃伊”——13具集中在一起的国王遗体。这些也是二十一朝的僧侣们为保护起见黄夜从各地运来的。但劳莱特并没有发现有价值的殉葬品，而几年前布鲁格施却找到大量的贵重葬物。那些木乃伊安然无恙，阿门诺菲斯仍旧躺在石棺里——但殉葬品已被盗窃一空。后来威廉?加斯汀爵士下令修筑围墙保护陵墓，以使这些国王的骸骨得以安息。岂知只过了一二年，盗墓贼更进入墓室，把阿门诺菲斯搬出棺外，对于尸进行了严重的破坏。这些人很可能是串通了陵墓的警卫，几千年来盗墓匪几乎无不如此。 这再次证明，布鲁格施发现那座集体陵寝以后便把里面的一切统统运定的作法是对的。 如果出于对帝王的虞敬而不肯这样做，那么鉴于埃及的情况，无论过去和将来都是错误的。 回过头来再说埃密尔?布鲁格施贝伊。当他离开那40具帝王的遗骸，从那狭窄的巷道爬回地面时，脑子里已经开始考虑怎样才能确保这些遗体的安全。如果弃置不管，就等于任凭人们继续劫掠；要想把墓中的一切统统取出运往开罗，就要雇用大批的人力，这只有到阿卜德艾尔拉苏尔的家乡库尔纳去找，然而那是盗贼的渊薮啊！布鲁格施第二次拜会省长时，已经决定不顾一切去这样做了。次日上午他就带着300名雇来的农民回到洞口。他下令封锁墓区，然后和阿拉伯助手一起挑选了看来较为可靠的一批人开始搬运工作。工程是繁重的，最重的一具石棺要用16个人才能搬起。布鲁格施和助手在洞外逐个验收登记后，把全部墓葬中的一切排列在山脚下。全部工作总共进行了48个小时。 对此霍华德?卡特有一句简单扼要的评语：“现在的人们也干不了这样快！” 考古工作并不需要这样急迫，实际上也大可不必如此匆忙，因为那艘开往开罗的船后来迟到了好几天。布鲁格施贝伊教人把这些木乃伊包好，盖好棺材运往卢克索。装船的工作直到7月14日才告完成。 然而后来发生了更为动人的情况，使得布鲁格施这位久经世故的科学家都感到眼前的事实比发现这批珍贵文物更为令人激动。船沿着尼罗河缓缓地顺流而下，两岸的景象触动了这位不失宗教虚诚的科学家。 人们很挟地得知这条船上装的是什么，消息像野火一样飞速传遍沿岸村庄，并不断向远处传播。可以看出，古埃及那种奉帝王若神明的传统信念至今犹在。布鲁格施站在甲板上，看到沿岸数以百计的农民僧同他们的妻子陪着轮船向前走，从卢克索起连绵不断，有掉队的随着就有人补充，一路直达尼罗河套的齐夫特和切纳。男人鸣枪向法老的遗体致敬，妇女则向自己的脸上、身上涂抹泥巴，并向乳房上涂沙。船只一路行进，不断从远处传来哭声。这是一支庞大的送葬队列，人们完全出于自愿，没有丝毫的造作，但那悲痛是撕心裂肺的。 布鲁格施不忍再看下去，就回到舱里。他想，自己做得对吗？在那些呼天抢地、捶胸号哭的人们看来，他是不是等于一个盗墓贼呢？现在只能对他们说，自己是在摘科学研究，但这够用吗？ 许多年以后，霍华德?卡特对这个伤脑筋的问题作出了明确的回答。他这样评论围绕着阿门诺菲斯墓周围发生的一切：“这次行动有它的意义，可以就教于那些抨击我们不该在古墓中和取文物的人。我们把这些东西运到博物馆，实际上是保障了它们的安全。如果留在原地，它们迟早必将落入盗匪之手，那时不论把它们用于什么实际用途，都会永远无从寻觅了。” 布鲁格施的船抵达开罗，从此，不仅使一座开罗博物馆的藏品大大丰富起来，而且让人们见到了世界上一度有过，但已不复存在的空前绝后的瑰丽的财富。