"Today, a good century after the first X-rays of mummies, Egyptology has the benefit of all the methods and means at the disposal of forensic medicine. The 'mummy stories' we tell have changed their tone, but they have enjoyed much success, with fantastic scientific and technological results resolving the mysteries of the ancient land of the pharaohs."-from the Foreword

Mummies are the things that fascinate us most about ancient Egypt. But what are mummies? How did the Egyptians create them? And why? What became of the people they once were? We are learning more all the time about the cultural processes surrounding mummification and the medical characteristics of ancient Egyptian mummies. In the first part of Mummies and Death in Egypt Francoise Dunand gives an overview of the history of mummification in Egypt from the prehistoric to the Roman period. She thoroughly describes the preparations of the dead (tombs and their furnishings, funerary offerings, ornamentation of the corpse, coffins, and canopic jars), and she includes a separate chapter on the mummification of animals. She links these various practices and behaviors to the religious beliefs of classical Egypt.

In the second part of this book, Roger Lichtenberg, a physician and archaeologist, offers a fascinating narrative of his forensic research on mummies, much of it conducted with a portable X-ray machine on archaeological digs. His findings have revealed new information on the ages of the mummified, their causes of death, and the illnesses and injuries they suffered. Together, Dunand and Lichtenberg provide a state-of-the-art account of the science of mummification and its social and religious context.

About the Author

Francoise Dunand is Professor of the History of Religion, Marc Bloch University, Strasbourg, and the coauthor of Gods and Men in Egypt: 3000 BCE to 395 CE, also from Cornell. Roger Lichtenberg is a physician in private practice. Jean Yoyotte is Professor Emeritus, College de France. David Lorton, an Egyptologist, lives in Baltimore, Maryland.

Reviews
"The authors have divided this book into two parts. In the first section, Dunand looks at why and how mummies were made . . . . The second part of the book, written by Lichtenberg, looks in some detail at modern, scientific research on mummies. He draws together research and studies undertaken around the world, but also much of his own, which has involved the use of portable X-ray equipment, which enables on-site investigations of mummies to be made. The results are fascinating and reveal diseases and accidents from which the ancient Egyptians suffered."-Ancient Egypt


Awards
Winner of An Alternate Selection of the Book-of-the-Month Cl.



Book Information
ISBN 9780801444722
Author Francoise Dunand
Format Hardback
Page Count 256
Imprint Cornell University Press
Publisher Cornell University Press
Weight(grams) 907g
Dimensions(mm) 254mm * 178mm * 22mm