Page 19 of Disturbing the Dead
That smile grows, his eyes dancing as he leans closer, lips parting to whisper—
“Here is everything you should need, Dr. Gray,” Lady Christie says as she appears with a tray of medical implements.
Around us, everyone had gone back to chattering. Now silence falls as Gray takes the tray, and Phoebe and Michael run over to join. It is time to begin.
To the obvious displeasure of the crowd, the children and I insist on beginning with a short lecture, grounding the night’s events in their historical context. I leave most of this to the kids and play the role of mediator only when they start arguing over a point of contention in the history.
The kids really are amazing. If they don’t grow up to play notable roles in Egyptology, I’ll be both shocked and disappointed. It seems that Phoebe has spent much of her young life living on excavation sites and, with a father who let her run wild, she indulged her natural curiosity. I suspect she already knows more than most archaeologists of this day. Michael’s expertise is the history of his country and his people, and he puts the mummification into its historical, cultural, and religious context.
The children explain the full process of mummification, starting with removing the organs and stuffing incense-perfumed cloth in their place. Then the body is covered in a salty powder called natron and left to dry for about six weeks. After that, the stuffing is removed and replaced, the incisions are sewn up, and the body is covered in resin.
Next come the shroud and the wrappings. The bandages—up to four thousand square feet’s worth—are supplied by the deceased’s family, which among the poor could include rags and household linens. As the body is wrapped, hot resin is brushed on as a glue. The embalmers will recite protective spells as they work and may place amulets among the layers.
Once the mummy is done, it’s put in a cartonnage case, which sounds like papier-mâché made with papyrus and other fibers. Then comes the funerary mask, like the one we saw on display. It will be decorated with a likeness of either the deceased or a god. The cartonnage case is placed into a suhet—a coffin painted to look like a person—and the suhet is ceremoniously taken to the tomb, where it’s propped against the wall.
The children impart their knowledge with a liveliness and brevity that even my English prof father could learn from. Sorry, Dad, but you do go on sometimes.
Despite the fact that the children talk for barely ten minutes, the guests’ attention doesn’t just waver. It never exists in the first place. While a few listen, either out of interest or courtesy, most are too rude to even humor the children, and they resume conversations, as if the kids are on a television playing in the background.
My glares only bounce off the offenders. Well, they bounce off most, though a couple of the men seem to mistake them for flirting. My only consolation is that McCreadie and Isla move to the front and prove as rapt an audience as Lady Christie. Even Annis comes forward to listen, and several others do as well, enough that—I hope—all the children see is an appreciative audience.
As they end, Michael’s high, clear voice rings out over the group. “Sir Alastair has brought two mummies to Edinburgh to further advance the study of Egyptian burial practices. As you can see, this one is not well wrapped, and so it is the one we will be examining today, while the other has been delivered to the university for further study.”
Phoebe takes over. “This mummy was not found in a proper suhet or even a cartonnage case, which accounts for the condition of its wrappings. It was located in a corridor, and we could not determine where it belonged. The tomb had previously been robbed, and most of the mummies had been removed from their suhets and taken from the tomb altogether. This one seems to have been partially unwrapped, as you can see, as if the thieves had been looking for amulets or jewels under the layers. We do not know who lies within these wrappings, and that is why my father felt it was acceptable to open the mummy here, so that we might be able to determine who lies within and properly repatriate the remains.”
Guests look at one another, brows furrowing, either at the unfamiliar word or the unfamiliar concept.
Michael says, “Dr. Gray? If you would begin, please.”
Gray inclines his head in a nod. Then he looks at the crowd. “I will be unwrapping with care, out of respect for the dead. Aiding me is my assistant, Miss Mallory Mitchell.”
I don’t miss the snicker that goes up at that. Assistant indeed. They all know the truth—Gray has found himself a pretty girl to fetch and carry his implements… and possibly more.
If Gray notices the snicker, he ignores it and leans over to whisper a plan to me. This is not a Christmas gift to be easily or quickly unwrapped. It’s going to take time, and no one here wants that. So both of us will move as fast as we dare in removing the outer wrappings.
Fortunately, as Phoebe said, the wrappings are in poor condition. The resin that would have glued them together seems to have dissolved, suggesting a cut-rate mummification.
The outer layer shows the classic mummy shape, with the legs together and arms crossed over the chest. It’s lumpier than I would have expected. The children had said padding was often used to fill out the form, and I suppose the lumps are another sign of poor—or hastily done—mummification.
I start at the legs with scissors. Yes, scissors, because otherwise, this would take hours. I don’t have the luxury of latex gloves, but at least I have silk ones, though I suspect this will be the end of them. The smell of the grave doesn’t come off with a simple soak. As we begin, a maid lights pots of incense, and it’s not just for atmosphere.
We get the outer layers off more easily than I expected. Then we’re down to a recognizable body, with the legs wrapped individually.
“You will note that the legs are bound at the knees,” I say. “And that the feet are held apart by packing material. Also, if we examine the wrappings, we can see that some of it is made from old clothing. There’s an armhole here.” I lift a piece and demonstrate. “I believe that would suggest a relatively poor person inside the wrappings.”
“It would,” Michael says. “As Phoebe said, Egyptians used whatever cloth was available, including old clothing.”
Someone in the crowd audibly sighs with impatience. When someone else makes a hurry-up gesture, McCreadie steps in front of them and smiles.
“We are almost through,” I say. “I don’t know how many of you will have seen a mummified body, but I should prepare you for what will likely be a disturbing sight.”
And with that, the room falls to a hush. A few women raise a gloved hand to their faces, as if preparing to cover their eyes, but those eyes stay trained on my fingers, as I slowly unwrap the mummy’s leg.
“I really cannot stress this enough,” I say. “If you are faint of heart—or stomach—you may wish to avert your gaze.”
No one averts their gaze. Phoebe smirks at me, knowing I’m playing it up for the audience.
“Only a few moments left,” I say. “I can see the skin, darkened from the mummification process. If you wish to look away, now is the—”
