Why were Mummies stuffed with stuffing?

[Pelly8910]

I'm doing a biology project and I need to know what people did to preserve Mummies. I found a website and it says the body was filled with stuffing. Why is this because my teacher will probably find out I've just copied and pasted it :S

[society]

Stuffing is the name given to the bits that's used to stuff anything.

[jno]

they removed organs like hearts, brains and lungs (these went in separate jars); the stuffing was to keep the body sort of body-shaped rather than collapsing and looking like a skeleton. For the actual preservation they used special herbs and oils. (But much earlier on, bodies were preserved naturally by the hot dry air and sand in Egypt)

[Pelly8910]

ok, thank you so much!

[Mosaic]

The 'stuffing' was usually rolled-up linen cloth bandages, similar to the ones wrapped around the outside. This had to be done when the internal organs were removed, because after being packed in natron salts the body was like a block of wood - the natron drew out all water content, effectively giving the deceased a head-to-toe liposuction job. So in the really best preserved Egyptian mummies, like the royal ones on display in the Cairo Museum, a great deal of skill had to be used to predict how much the body would wither during the process, pad out the cheeks and body cavity to give it a 'normal' look.

[squarebear]

And now you can just copy and paste it from this site as well!

[Mosaic]

yep, squarebear, 'effectively giving the deceased a head-to-toe liposuction job' would never be spotted as plagiarism by this student's a teacher...... ;)

[boxtops]

They were - er - mummified - embalming is the nearest thing we have to compare with it. The stuffing was to stop the empty bodies caving in.

[sandyRoe]

Add sage and oregano to the stuffing and you have the makings of a tasty barbeque