The oldest instruction on mummification was found in papyrus 3500 years old
Egyptologists have discovered in the ancient Egyptian medical papyrus of the 15th century BC, the oldest guide to mummification, according to RIA Novosti.
The manuscript contains detailed rules for embalming, as well as procedures for preserving the face of the deceased. Many of this information was unknown to scientists.
Prior to that, experts had only two Egyptian sources, as well as images of individual episodes of embalming, as well as incomplete descriptions left by Herodotus and Diodorus of Siculus. The papyrus found contains the sequence of stages of mummification, and special attention is paid to the preservation of the face.
The papyrus made it possible to recreate the embalming process in the form that was practiced in the 15th century BC. The entire period of mummification was divided into four-day intervals, in total it took 70 days. Every fourth day was dedicated to a procedure.
In December last year, on the set of a film in Egypt, an ancient mummy was accidentally found. A rising wind blew off the sand and revealed the mummified body lying prone. Its age was estimated at two thousand years.
