Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

When Herodotus visited Egypt, around 450 B.C., priests in that country told him how they made mummies. His review of the process, the earliest-known description of mummification, continues:

Next, the flank is slit open with sharp Ethiopian stone [probably a flake of obsidian] and the entire contents of the abdomen are removed. The cavity is then thoroughly cleansed and washed out, first with palm wine and again with a solution of pounded spices. Then it is filled with pure crushed myrrh, cassia,  and all other aromatic substances, except frankincense. The opening is sewn up, and then the body is placed in natron,  covered entirely for 70 days, never longer.

What, exactly, is a mummy? It is a preserved dead body which has retained some of its soft tissue.  It may still have skin (or muscle tissue or organs) which, upon further study, tell us something about who the person once was.

Mummies have fascinated us for centuries. They can develop, naturally,  when a body is buried (or left) in extremely cold or very hot, arid conditions. They can be created (like they were in ancient Egypt) when experts follow an elaborate embalming process. Turning dead bodies into mummies (follow the link to virtually create one yourself) was so popular in Egypt that scholars believe about seventy million were created there over a 3,000-year period.

In this story, we will take a virtual trip to meet someone who might have been a mummy (the first emperor of China), examine his famous tomb (which has been partially excavated) and explore beautiful mountains (the Himalayas) south of the country (China) which he unified in 221 BC.