DOI article:
Smith, Grafton Elliot: A contribution to the study of mummification in Egypt: with special reference to the measures adopted during the time of the 21st dynasty for moulding the form of the body
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.11325#0031
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knee and as a rule rauch lower still : it wound round the inner
side o£ the leg to the back o£ the knee (popliteal space) thence to
the calf and not infrequently almost as far as the ankle. Both
legs were tunnelled in this way by the operator working with his
hand and arm passed into the leg through the body cavity from
the lef t flank. A channel was also made in a similar manner in
the neck as far up as the level of the chin, the arm being passed
into the body through the flank wound X and up through the
body along the line Z (figure 3) ; the cavity so formed was limited
posteriorly by the cervical vertebrae and the muscles attached to
it and in front by the skin of the neck (Pl. X, figures 3 and 4).
The trachea, oesophagus and blood vessels were pushed aside—
usually to the right, because the manipulations were conducted
from the left—and in most cases the larynx was pushed right up
behind the hyoid bone near the back of the mouth.
When this was done the body was probably turned upside
down so that the head would be downward and mud in a semi-
fluid state was introduced into the cervical cavity (Figure 3, T,
also Pl. IV, figure 3) through the thorax. The thoracic inlet
was then tightly packed with a mass of linen (Figure 3, W, also
Pl. IV, figure 1, K and figure 2) so that when the body Avas
placed again in the vertical position the mud-packing in the neck
would be retained in its position. Mud is not the material always
employed for the stuffing of the neck. In some cases the whole
cavity was filled with linen bandages, in other cases with pebbly
sand (Pl. X, figure 4) in others again with a mixture of mud
and vegetable powder (sawdust) or a mixture of soda and butter
(Pl. XIII, figures 1 and 2).
With the body placed head uppermost in the vertical position
the legs *were stufïed with mud or sand, and when the cavities
formed in thèse limbs had been filled large linen plugs were
inserted at the situations of Poupart's ligaments (Figure 3, V)
knee and as a rule rauch lower still : it wound round the inner
side o£ the leg to the back o£ the knee (popliteal space) thence to
the calf and not infrequently almost as far as the ankle. Both
legs were tunnelled in this way by the operator working with his
hand and arm passed into the leg through the body cavity from
the lef t flank. A channel was also made in a similar manner in
the neck as far up as the level of the chin, the arm being passed
into the body through the flank wound X and up through the
body along the line Z (figure 3) ; the cavity so formed was limited
posteriorly by the cervical vertebrae and the muscles attached to
it and in front by the skin of the neck (Pl. X, figures 3 and 4).
The trachea, oesophagus and blood vessels were pushed aside—
usually to the right, because the manipulations were conducted
from the left—and in most cases the larynx was pushed right up
behind the hyoid bone near the back of the mouth.
When this was done the body was probably turned upside
down so that the head would be downward and mud in a semi-
fluid state was introduced into the cervical cavity (Figure 3, T,
also Pl. IV, figure 3) through the thorax. The thoracic inlet
was then tightly packed with a mass of linen (Figure 3, W, also
Pl. IV, figure 1, K and figure 2) so that when the body Avas
placed again in the vertical position the mud-packing in the neck
would be retained in its position. Mud is not the material always
employed for the stuffing of the neck. In some cases the whole
cavity was filled with linen bandages, in other cases with pebbly
sand (Pl. X, figure 4) in others again with a mixture of mud
and vegetable powder (sawdust) or a mixture of soda and butter
(Pl. XIII, figures 1 and 2).
With the body placed head uppermost in the vertical position
the legs *were stufïed with mud or sand, and when the cavities
formed in thèse limbs had been filled large linen plugs were
inserted at the situations of Poupart's ligaments (Figure 3, V)