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Ancient Egyptians Created "Meat Mummies" So Dead Could Continue To Eat

sciencehabit writes "What is your beloved mummy going to eat for the rest of eternity? For some ancient Egyptians, the answer included meat. In King Tutankhamun's tomb, for example, archaeologists found 48 wooden cases of butchered cuts of beef and poultry. But unlike offerings of fruit and grains, which could last for quite a while once dehydrated and placed in dry tombs, pieces of meat required special treatment. After just a few hours in the desert heat, 'they will become a terrible mess if you don't take some steps to preserve them,' says Richard Evershed, an archaeological chemist at the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom. The solution? Mummify. Now, a team of researchers led by Evershed is shedding light on the embalming processes used to create these so-called meat mummies, including mummified beef ribs."

7 of 93 comments (clear)

  1. Re:News? Stuff that matters? by G3ckoG33k · · Score: 4, Funny

    Think of it as an analogue to McDonalds, or SPAM.

  2. Re:News? Stuff that matters? by HornWumpus · · Score: 4, Funny

    Nerds love jerky.

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  3. Okay, one odd fact... by themushroom · · Score: 4, Insightful

    When people were mummified, their internal organs were put into clay pots in the sarcophagus.
    So if the kings were to eat after death... where did anyone think the food was going to go?

  4. Re:News? Stuff that matters? by geekoid · · Score: 5, Informative

    "archaeological chemist"
    How is that not news for nerds?
    This is awesome nerd fair.

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  5. Obligatory Hubert Farnsworth by dkleinsc · · Score: 4, Funny

    This is an outrage - I was going to eat that mummy!

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  6. Re:News? Stuff that matters? by flyneye · · Score: 4, Funny

    Add water, makes its own sauce...

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  7. Re:News? Stuff that matters? by Gavagai80 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Ancient Egypt was definitely not rain forest, can't imagine where you got that idea. It was, of course, farmed on a large scale -- just as it is today, by using the Nile.

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