Mummy has brain, no heart

Thanks to the technical assistance of a number of CT scans at the Montreal Neurological Institute (Canada), scientists have confirmed the mummy of an Egyptian woman with the characteristic of having her organs removed; The heart is removed from the body but the abnormal thing is that there is still a brain, in which the left hemisphere is quite large.

This woman died at age 30 - 40, about 1,700 years ago. According to the technique at the time, all brains and organs had to be removed before embalming. Scientists believe that this woman was buried during Roman rule; when Christianity was spread through Egypt, the embalming became less popular.

There was a time when archaeologists believed that the heart was still in the mummy as a spiritual bridge. But, evidence through CT scans gives conflicting results with the above assumption. The images show the exact incision, the heart is first removed, followed by the intestine, stomach and liver. The incision has been sealed with two plaque that the researchers say is an attempt to mend mummies to transfer souls to the afterlife.

UPI news agency quoted researchers as saying that modern medical imaging technology provided evidence of a change in the ancient funeral rite of Egypt. Meanwhile, anthropologist Andrew Wade of McMaster University (Canada) told LiveScience magazine that scientists do not know what people have done with the removed heart when embalming.