Scientists don't know what happened to the removed heart

Apr 7, 2014 16:56 GMT  ·  By

A group of researchers from McMaster University in Canada, who examined a 1,700-year-old Egyptian mummy, were perplexed to discover that the body had an intact brain, but no heart, contrary to what was considered a traditional mummification ritual.

The body, which belongs to a woman who had probably lived during the Roman rule and had died between age 30 and 50, was discovered in the 19th century, but researchers have only now examined it with CT scans, Live Science reveals.

The fact that her heart is missing is actually very unusual, as it is well known that this organ was the only one left in place by ancient embalmers during the mummification process. Ancient Egyptians regarded the heart as the center of a person's being and intelligence. They thought the soul lived in the heart, so, without it in place, a person would not be able to move on to the afterlife, as their soul would be incomplete.

Scientists also say that the mummy has a plaque on her abdomen that may have been intended for ritual healing. The CT scans also show that the embalmers removed the woman's organs, including her intestines, stomach, liver and even her heart, through a hole in her perineum.

Surprisingly though, her brain were left untouched, although traditionally it was scooped out through the nostrils. Spices and lichen were spread over her head and abdomen.

Now, Egyptologists have to answer a difficult question: what did the ancient Egyptians do with the heart?

“We don't really know what's happening to the hearts that are removed,” Andrew Wade, a professor at McMaster University, told the aforementioned publication.

“During some time periods, the hearts may have been put in canopic jars, a type of jar used to hold internal organs, though tissue analysis is needed to confirm this idea,” Wade added.

Scientists believe that, given that the woman lived towards the end of the ancient Egyptian empire, when Christianity had begun to spread, it is possible that the practice of embalming and mummification was different from other traditional cases.

More interestingly, the mummy was also repaired after the embalming ritual, as the hole made in the perineum was filled with linen and resin, and two thin plaques made of a plastered material were placed above her sternum and abdomen, in what researchers think was a symbolic act meant to replace the woman's removed heart.

She was then supposedly wrapped, put in a coffin, and buried near Luxor.