Silk Road Souvenirs

Burial Practices Mummification

Sacred & Spiritual Life: Burial Practices
For this activity, you will conduct a science experiment, comparing and contrasting the Tarim Basin mummification process (freeze-drying) and the ancient Egyptian mummification process (embalming with natron). For the experiment, you will freeze dry and embalm apple slices and record your observations at home.
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This activity will need to be completed at home and will take 5-7 days.
PictureThe "Beauty of Xiaohe."
What You Need:
  • Freezer space
  • 1-2 apples, cut into paper thin slices. The thinner the cut, the less time
  • the experiment will take.
  • Cookie cooling rack, metal mesh tray, or any other tray with perforation
  • Worksheet to record observations.

Directions: Freeze-Drying Mummification
  1. Slice an apple into paper-thin slices.
  2. After slicing the apple into the thinnest slices possible, arrange the apple slices onto the rack or tray that you’ll use for drying and put them in the freezer. Complete this step quickly or else the apple slices will discolor
  3. Wait one half hour, then look at the apples. You can touch them, but don’t remove them from the freezer.
  4. Record your observations on your worksheet.
  5. Each day throughout the week, look at the apple slices and record daily observations on your worksheet.
  • After one week, the water in the slices should be released as water vapor, instead of melting.
  • After a week or so (depending on the temperature of the freezer and how thick the slices are), the slices should be completely dry. To test your apple for complete drying, take one slice out and let it thaw. If it is not completely dry, it will turn black almost immediately. If that happens, put the slices back in the freezer for more dry time.
     6.  When all of the slices are completely dry, they can be “reconstituted.” Put the apple slices in a mug and add ¼ cup of boiling water. Then, record observations on your worksheet.
     7.  After you have reconstituted your apple slice(s), try eating one or two. Record your reactions on the worksheet.
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Directions: Embalming with Natron Mummification
What You Need:
  • One Apple, cut into fourths
  • One plastic zip-lock bag
  • One disposable bowl
  • ¼ cup of salt
  • ½ cup of sodium carbonate (powdered bleach detergent)
  • ½ cup of bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
  • Disposable gloves
  • Worksheet to record observations.
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Directions:
  1. Cut an apple into four equal sections. Only two sections of the apple are needed for the experiment.
  2. You will record your observations for each apple section and you will predict each apple section’s appearance outcome as a result of the experiment.
  3. Mix the salt, sodium carbonate, and bicarbonate together in the disposable bowl. This is natron, the embalming agent used by the ancient Egyptians. (The experiment will work best if you use all three ingredients. However, if necessary, you can skip the sodium carbonate and just mix the salt and the bicarbonate of soda – baking soda)
  4. Submerge one section of the apple into the natron mixture. Then, place the bowl aside.
  5. Place another cut section of the apple into a Ziplock bag without natron. This is the “control” apple.
  6. On a daily basis, for the next four class days, put on disposable gloves and remove the apple from the natron. Record your observations on the worksheet.
  7. Evaluate your predictions for the control apple and the embalmed apple. How accurate were they?

​Once the Freeze Dried Mummification and Embalming with Natron Mummification activities are complete, evaluate your experiments. Write a blog entry that includes your thoughts on the following questions:
  • Which method is a natural process? Which method involved chemicals?
  • Which method is more like the process the ancient Egyptians used to preserve their dead?
  • Which method retained the natural appearance of an apple the best?