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The mummy of an Egyptian woman who died in 800 B.C. has just had an operation.
The mummy is that of Shepenmut who was once a singer in the Temple of Thebes.
As there were strange marks on the X-ray plates taken of the mummy, doctors have been trying to find out whether the woman died of a rare disease. The only way to do this was to operate.
The operation, which lasted for over four hours, proved to be very difficult because of the hard resin which covered the skin. The doctors removed a section of the mummy and sent it to a laboratory.
They also found something which the X-ray plates did not show: a small wax figure of the god Duamutef. This god which has the head of a cow was normally placed inside a mummy.
The doctors have not yet decided how the woman died. They feared that the mummy would fall to pieces when they cut it open, but fortunately this has not happened. The mummy successfully survived the operation.
Summary
A mummy who died in 800 B.C. was sent to hospital for an operation. Doctors want to find out whether the mummy, a woman, who once was a singer in the Temple of Thebes, died of a rare disease. After hours of operation, a section part of the mummy was obtained and conducted examination in the lab. They also found a small wax figure of the guarding god Duamutef inside the mummy. Yet the doctors have not confirmed how the mummy died, fortunately she escaped from falling into pieces and survived the operation.
Words & Expressions
mummy: a dead body which was preserved long ago by being rubbed with special oils and wrapped in cloth.
"Through various methods of study over many decades, modern Egyptologists now have an accurate understanding of how mummification was achieved in ancient Egypt. The first and most important step was to halt the process of decomposition, by removing the internal organs and washing out the body with a mix of spices and palm wine. The only organ left behind was the heart, as tradition held the heart was the seat of thought and feeling and would therefore still be needed in the afterlife. After cleansing, the body was then dried out with natron inside the empty body cavity as well as outside on the skin. The internal organs were also dried and either sealed in individual jars, or wrapped to be replaced within the body. This process typically took forty days.
After dehydration, the mummy was wrapped in many layers of linen cloth. Within the layers, Egyptian priests placed small amulets to guard the decedent from evil. Once the mummy was completely wrapped, it was coated in a resin in order to keep the threat of moist air away. Resin was also applied to the coffin in order to seal it. The mummy was then sealed within its tomb, alongside the worldly goods that were believed to help aid it in the afterlife.
Aspergillus niger has been found in the mummies of ancient Egyptian tombs and can be inhaled when they are disturbed." from Wikipedia
operation
have an operation 动手术
in operation实施中/运转中
come into operation/ put into operation
开始实施
disease/catch a disease/suffer from a disease
a rare disease 一种罕见的疾病
terminal/fatal diseases 绝症
mentally ill/ seriously ill/ terminally ill
common symptoms of the disease 疾病常见的症状
Pronunciation
resin ['rɛzn]
