Annotated Mona Lisa, The - Strickland, Carol.original_ [9]
MUMMY ART
The Egyptians believed the ka, or life force, was immortal. To provide a durable receptacle for the deceased’s spirit, they perfected the science of embalming. Preserving the body began with extracting the deceased’s brains through the nostrils with a metal hook. Viscera, like the liver, lungs, stomach, and intestines, were removed and preserved in separate urns. What was left was then soaked in brine for more than a month, after which the pickled cadaver was literally hung out to dry. The shriveled body was then stuffed women’s breasts padded, the corpse swaddled in layers of bandages, and finally interred in nested coffins and a stone sarcophagus. In fact, Egypt’s dry climate and absence of bacteria in sand and air probably aided preservation as much as this elaborate chemical treatment. In 1881, 40 dead kings’ bodies were discovered, including that of Ramses II, whose dried skin, teeth, and hair monarch, in whose court Moses grew up, was called “The Great” and with good reason; he sired more than 100 children during his opulent 67-year reign. Yet, when a customs inspector surveyed Ramses’ mortal remains during the transfer of the mummy to Cairo, he labeled it “dried fish. ”
Head of Ramses II, Mummy The Egyptian Museum, Cairo.
GENERAL CONTRACTING FOR THE GREAT PYRAMID
One of 80 remaining pyramids, the Great Pyramid of Cheops at Giza is the largest stone structure in the world. Ancient Egyptians leveled its 13-acre site — the base a perfect square — so successfully that the southeast corner is only one-half inch higher than the northwest. Since the interior is an almost solid mass of limestone slabs, great engineering skill was required to protect the small burial chambers from the massive weight of stone above. The Grand Gallery’s ceiling was tiered and braced, while the king’s chamber had six granite-slab roofs above separate compartments to relieve stress and displace the weight of overhead blocks. Built in 2600 B.C. to last forever, so far it has. If you were to construct the Great Pyramid, this is what you’d need:
SUPPLIES:
2,300,000 limestone blocks, each weighing an average of 2 ½ tons
Rudimentary copper-and-stone-cutting tools
Barges to float blocks from quarry on east side of Nile to west bank
Log rollers, temporary brick ramps, wooden sledges to haul stone to construction site
Pearly white limestone facing to surface finished 480-foot-tall pyramid
LABOR:
4,000 construction workers to move blocks weighing up to 15 tons, without benefit of draft animals, the wheel, or block-and-tackle
ESTIMATED COMPLETION TIME:
23 years (average life span at the time was 35)
SCHEMATIC DESIGN OF THE PYRAMID
THE DISCOVERY OF KING TUT’S TOMB
In life, King Tutankhamen, who died at the age of 19, was unimportant. Yet in death and 3,000 years later, he became the most celebrated pharaoh of all. His tomb is the only one to be discovered in its near-original condition. The British archeologist Howard Carter was alone in his belief the tomb could be found. For six years he dug in the Valley of Kings, twice coming within two yards of the tomb’s entrance. In 1922 he literally struck pay dirt. When he lit a match to peek into the darkness, he saw “everywhere the glint of gold. ”
Our knowledge of the magnificence of a pharaoh’s funerary regalia comes from Tut’s tomb. The contents ranged from baskets of fruit and garlands of flowers still tinged with color, a folding camp bed and a toy-box, to four chariots completely covered with gold. Indeed, gold was the prevailing decorating motif: golden couches, gilded throne, gold walls, a 6’2” coffin of solid gold, as well as the now famous solid gold death mask covering the royal mummy’s face in the innermost of three nested coffins.
More than 20 people connected with unsealing the tomb died under mysterious circumstances, giving rise to lurid “curse of the pharaoh” stories. Such superstition didn’t,