Introduction

With the first mummy dating back to 3400 BC, mummification has long been an effective process for preservation. There have been accounts of “Wet Mummies,” mummies preserved in water such as a mummy from the Ming Dynasty preserved in a flooded coffin (Than), but most accounts tell of mummies treated with salts and oils and then wrapped in linen. This lab explored the mummification process used in ancient Egypt to preserve royalty and whether tissue preserved in a solution can be as effective and efficient as tissue preserved in dry conditions. It is predicted that natron as a solid will be more effective than a natron solution at drawing out water and leaving the meat with more mass. It is also predicted that a mixture of NaCl and natron will not be as effective because in the Manchester study, mice dried in 60% NaCl and 40% natron lost 61% of their body weight while mice in natron lost, on average, 63% o their body weight.

A mummy from the Ming Dynasty was uncovered after being preserved in a flooded coffin, showing how tissue can be preserved in an aqueous solution.

Methods

•Natron is made by combining 8.27g of sodium carbonate and 8.27g of Sodium bicarbonate, with a total of 16.54g of natron. •2 grams of lamb meat (sample 1) was put into a Petri dish and buried in natron. A second sample of meat (Sample 2) was put into 100 mL of H 2 0 mixed with 16.54g of natron. •While they are being mummified, a second experiment will be performed. The same dimensions of the same meat are measured. •One piece is buried in a natron mixture, just like the previous time. •A mixture of 60% sodium chloride and 40% natron is mixed. A piece of meat is buried in the natron-salt mixture.

•Each piece of meat is left to dehydrate for 5 days. Lamb meat, natron, and Petri dishes were the materials used in this experiment.

Dehydration of Tissue by Natron

Ellie Fuelling and Ibad Jafri 2

011-2012 Abstract

Lab 18: Dehydration of tissue in solid and liquid natron and salt compounds:

The purpose of this lab was to discern between multiple methods of dehydration – natron & salt powder, natron solution and natron powder – and arrive at a reasonable conclusion as to which method was the most effective at drying samples of lamb meat. To judge the efficacy of each method, each trial saw pieces of meat of equal masses placed in contrasting conditions and massed and measured afterwards. The meat that had undergone the most profound change in mass and dimension had been through the most effective means of dehydration. The hypothesis seems to have been proved seeing as three pieces of meat between masses of 1.97 g and 2.01 g finished their 5-day trials at varying masses while the meat that undergone dehydration in a solid compound lost the most weight. On one occasion, meat in solutions actually seemed to gain mass over the course of trial. This is of great significance as such data can determine the most productive manner in which an organism's corpse can be dehydrated or preserved.

Keywords:

Osmosis, Hypertonic, Hypotonic, natron, dehydration

Results

5 4,5 4 3,5 3 2,5 2 1,5 1 0,5 0 Sample 1 Sample 2 Sample 3 Sample 4 Sample 5 Sample 6 Sample 7 Sample 8

Analysis

Sample 1: Meat in Dry Natron for 5 days Sample 2: Meat in Natron Solution for 5 days original (g) Dried (g) Original (g) Observations 2.01

Dried (g) Total weight loss (g) 0.75

1.26

Looked dark red and visibly shrunken Sample 3: Meat in Natron solution for 5 days Original (g) 1.99

Dried (g) Total weight loss (g) 1.30 (0.74 after washing and drying) 0.69 (1.25 after washing and drying) Observations Looks similar to Sample 1, with dark reds and spots of white muscle. 2.06

1.25 (0.76 after washing and drying) 0.81 (1.30 after washing and drying) Not as shrunken, crystallized white around the edges Sample 4: Meat in dry natron for 5 days 1.97

0.74

1.23

Looks similar to Sample 2 with a white crystallized coating around the edges; meat is light pink Original (g) Sample 5: Meat in dry natron 2.51

Dried (g) Total weight loss (g) 1.32

1.19

Observations It does not appear as dried as the other samples in dry natron and also came out of the petri dish with excess natron coating it, unlike samples 1 and 4. Sample 6: Meat in dry natron 2.48

1.04

1.44

It does not appear as dried as the other samples in dry natron and also came out of the Petri dish with excess natron coating it, unlike samples 1 and 4.

Discussion

•Originally unclear whether or not the hypothesis is proven • Hypothesis expected that meat samples placed in solid natron would dehydrate faster and more effectively than samples placed in a natron-water solution • Osmosis would take place more effectively and allow for transfer of fluid from hypotonic meat to hypertonic natron when in direct contact with simply natron • Samples 1 and 2, weighed nearly the same – 2.01 and 2.06 g • After 5-day trial: Sample 1, which was in solid natron, weighed 0.75 g • Sample 2 weighed 2.44 g • • After one extra day of being left to dry, Sample 2 was 1.26 g After Sample 2 was washed of excess natron and dried, it ended at • 0.76 g • Both meats seemed to share virtually the same weight However, Sample 2 had undergone a far longer process of drying • Also was probably not covered in enough natron to make a great difference • The hypothesis is confirmed •The possibility of error is great • Possible that excess natron made a more-than-negligible difference on scale • The meat that was placed in water seems to have undergone a chemical change • White and powdery through and through after having been cut •Significance: • Possible that the same could happen to animal corpses meant to be dried in a mummification-type setting • Further studies will be taken to discover if meat underwent a chemical change, and if so, how and why.

References

Than, K. (2011, March 10).

Pictures: Lifelike wet mummy found during roadbuilding

. Retrieved from http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/03/pictures/110310 wet-mummy-china-ming-science-mummies-tomb-chinese-road/ David, A. R. (1979).

The Manchester Museum mummy project: multidisciplinary research on ancient Egyptian mummified remains

. Manchester, Eng.: Manchester Museum Lamb meat. 2011. Photograph. 123rf.comWeb. 6 Mar 2012.

http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/igors/igors0804/igors080400085/2941872-a piece-of-meat-lamb-isolated-on-the-white-background.jpg