Conversations with Mummies: New Light on the Lives of Ancient Egyptians

Egyptian mummies: Thousands of years ago, their bodies were carefully prepared for the journey to the afterlife. Today, state-of-the-art technology allows researchers to examine more closely than ever before these people who have remained so miraculously preserved through time. Their findings portray the most intimate picture yet available of the everyday lives of ancient Egyptians. In this lavishly illustrated book, internationally acclaimed paleopathologist Rosalie David and writer Rick Archbold guide us through the fascinating world of Egyptian mummies and the international teams who study them. In an absorbing text, we meet ancient people from every walk of life from pharaohs to peasants and learn how they lived and why they died. High-tech autopsies, using X-rays, CAT scans, and endoscopes, uncover the agonizing afflictions that spared no one, from Pharaoh Ramesses II to a temple musician named Djedmaatesankh. And with electron microscopes and DNA testing, scientists can look deeper still, to reveal the secrets hidden inside three-thousand-year-old cells secrets that may one day help provide cures for modem illnesses. Conversations with Mummies also conveys a wealth of information about daily life in the time of the pharaohs from diet and dentistry to magic and medicine. Features and sidebars on recent mummy studies provide new insights into everything from the family trees of the pharaohs to the hypnotic appeal of the blue lotus flower. A special illustrated feature documents the work of daring modern researchers who are performing the ultimate experiment: re-enacting the age-old ritual of mummification.