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Video: 2100-year-old mummy Lady Dye: the secret of the ancient sarcophagus
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
Her name was Xin Zhui, and she was the wife of the Imperial Viceroy of Changsha during the Han Dynasty. Perhaps her name would have sunk into oblivion if after her death she had not been mummified. The body of this Chinese woman was amazingly preserved 2100 years after her death, and today scientists are racking their brains over the mystery of Lady Dai's mummy.
What is a mummy
Mummies of humans or animals are dead bodies whose skin and organs were preserved by accident or deliberately. Decomposition of tissues can be prevented by lack of air, low humidity, high or low temperatures, or exposure to chemicals. This means that the body does not decompose as long as it is stored in a cool and dry place. Mummies have been found on all continents. For example, in Egypt, there are over a million animal mummies, mostly cats.
In ancient Egypt, when the pharaoh died, it was believed that he simply passed into the afterlife and turned into one of several gods who were worshiped at that time by people. The Egyptians used the mummification process to preserve bodies and prevent decay. Intentional mummification was first recorded during the 2nd Dynasty, i.e. in 3400 BC. It soon became an integral part of the Egyptian funeral ritual (of course, not for everyone). Sometimes it took up to 70 days to properly embalm the body.
Coffin painted on black lacquer coating
In Asia, mummies are preserved only by accident - due to the fact that people were buried in the "right place", where the environment itself acted as a means for preserving the body. Therefore, Asian mummies are most often found in the desert regions of Iran and the Tarim River basin. Mummies are also found in the more humid Asian climates, but they are very difficult to recover, as bodies decay very quickly after being removed from their graves due to the warm and humid climates to which they are unexpectedly exposed.
The extant body of Xin Zhui
Her skin is still soft, her arms and legs can bend, her internal organs remain intact, and her veins have retained blood. Somehow, the mummy even retained its eyelashes and hair. Lady Dai's name was Xin Zhui during her lifetime. The Chinese matron lived during the Han Dynasty from about 206 BC. to 220 BC and was the wife of the Marquis of Dai.
Her grave was discovered inside Mawandui Hill, located in the Chinese province of Hunan. The burial place of an aristocrat was discovered in 1971 when workers were digging a tunnel for a bomb shelter. At a depth of 12 meters, 4 coffins were found nested inside each other. Inside them lay an aristocrat, whose body was wrapped in silk.
Unusually, the body literally floated in some kind of yellow liquid, which, after opening the coffin, immediately evaporated without a trace. An autopsy revealed that Xin Zhui suffered from back pain, high blood pressure, clogged arteries, gallstones, diabetes, liver disease, and overweight. In addition, her heart was severely damaged.
Xin Zhui died of a heart attack at the age of 50. Experts found that the aristocrat led a very unhealthy lifestyle: she ate fatty foods and moved very little. Therefore, it is not surprising that Lady Dai was obese, but even this, oddly enough, did not cause decomposition of the body. Life weight is assumed to be 120-140 kg with a height of 150-152 cm. Xin Zhui had problems with his spine, and tapeworms were found in his intestines.
BONUS
It remains only to wonder at the deep knowledge of the ancient Chinese in medicine and wonder why this knowledge has not survived More than 30 years have passed since the discovery of the mysterious sarcophagus Xin Zhui, and its mysteries have not yet been solved.
Of great interest to scientists today are 10 ancient bodies found in peat bogs.
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