#Natural Mummification

[xtruss]

Brain samples are taken from the Copper-Age Mummy Ötzi, who was encased in ice shortly after death. This Natural Mummification preserved the body for some 5,000 years before its discovery in 1991. Photograph By Robert Clark, National Geographic Image Collection

These Mummies Were Made … By Accident?

Freeze-dried, salted, or buried in a bog: Thousands of years before humans intentionally mummified their dead, nature took care of it for them.

— By Elise Cutts | August 7, 2023

A mummy isn’t exactly something one would expect to make by accident.

Left to nature, a human body would usually be reduced to bones within a few years. Mummy-making cultures like the ancient Egyptians were only able to stave off the inevitable thanks to complex funerary practices involving all manner of specialized tools, chemicals, and procedures.

But there are paths to mummified eternity that don’t involve canopic jars, natron salts, or brain-removing hooks. In fact, some of the oldest Egyptian mummies were likely accidents, says Frank Rühli, director of the University of Zurich’s Institute of Evolutionary Medicine and head of the Paleopathology and Mummy Studies Group.

Buried in shallow graves, bodies can be naturally preserved for thousands of years by the dry heat of the Sahara’s desert air and sand. Rühli says he believes this could have inspired ancient Egyptians to start mummifying their honored dead.

Hot deserts are just one of many environments in which corpses naturally mummify. Scientists explain how environments ranging from bogs to icy mountaintops can stave off decay and—with a bit of luck—mummify bodies.

Deserts

The Egyptians aren’t the only desert culture known for their mummies. The Chinchorro people of northern Chile started to intentionally mummify their dead about 2,000 years before the Egyptians—and thousands of years before that, the Atacama Desert was doing it for them.

“One of the things that's interesting about the Chinchorro mummies is that some of them were intentionally prepared, while other were naturally mummified,” says physical anthropologist Bernardo Arriaza of the University of Tarapacá in Chile, who spent his career studying the Chinchorro mummies.

A bone-dry corpse, perhaps ironically, will likely leave more than bones.

A Landscape of the Desert! The Atacama desert plateau is one of the driest places in the World. Mummies have been found here that predate ancient Egypt’s by 2,000 years. Photograph By Naftali Hilger, Laif/Redux

Decay is a biological process and without water, biology can’t work. This is why deserts preserve bodies so well and why Egyptian and Chinchorro mummification practices involved steps to dry out the body.

The oldest Chinchorro mummy, Acha Man, was naturally preserved by the desert for more than 9,000 years. Natural mummies have been found in deserts around the world. Among the most well-preserved are the Tarim mummies of Xinjiang, China, who were buried in boat-shaped coffins up to 4,000 years ago in the Taklamakan Desert.

Salt

For a handful unfortunate Iranian miners caught in cave-ins at the Chehrabad salt mine, salt did the job just as well as deserts.

"They were working in the salt mine and then it collapsed,” says Rühli, who studied the mummies. This actually happened multiple times—at least twice, says Rühli—over about 1000 years, entombing young men separated from one another by centuries in the salt they’d come to mine. Though the weight of the salt crushed the miners, flattening their corpses, the salty rock drew the water out of their bodies and mummified their squashed remains.

Salts in the dry soils of the Atacama Desert also helped preserve the Chinchorro mummies, says Arriaza. The soils are rich in nitrate compounds, nitrogen, potassium, sodium, calcium. “Mostly salts,” he says. “That's going to help dehydrate the body.”

Ice

Removing the water from a corpse isn’t the only way to stop decay. Low temperatures slow down most biological processes, and freezing a body completely can keep it from rotting for thousands of years.

Pathologist Andreas Nerlich of the Munich Klinik Bogenhausen studied Ötzi, a 5,300-year-old ice mummy who was found poking out of melting glacier ice in the Ötztal alps near the Austrian-Italian border. “They're preserved as long as the ice is there,” he says of mummies like Ötzi.

While “very rare,” adds Nerlich, ice mummies like Ötzi can be remarkably well-preserved compared to dehydrated mummies. That’s because dehydration shrivels and distorts tissues, but frozen organs mostly keep their shape.

Permafrost, earth that remains frozen year-round, can also mummify. One Siberian mummy, the 2,500 year-old Ice Maiden, was quite literally frozen in a block of ice after her burial chamber flooded and the water quickly froze. Because her burial chamber was constructed from permafrost earth, the ice that formed inside never melted.

Freeze-Drying

Combining cold and dry conditions can mummify bodies even when it’s not consistently chilly enough to keep a body frozen year-round. That’s what happened to a handful of Thule Inuit women and children in Greenland. They were naturally mummified in their graves after their deaths, likely caused by famine or disease, in the 15th and 16th centuries.

It’s a bit like natural freeze-drying, says paleopathologist Niels Lynnerup of the University of Copenhagen, who studied the mummies.

“Even though it's very cold in Greenland, it's not like it's in the high Arctic with permafrost,” he says. The bodies were buried under rocky covers or cairns, so “they still had wind blowing through.” The wind desiccated the bodies and, combined with the bacteria-slowing effect of cold temperatures, mummified them.

Many of the Inca mummies discovered high on Andean mountaintops were preserved by freeze-drying, too. The exceptionally well-preserved Maiden of Llullaillaco, the mummy of a teenage Inca girl left to succumb to cold on an Andean mountaintop as a sacrifice, is a unique case as she was frozen solid.

Even the conditions in cool, dry crypts can sometimes preserve remains in a similar way so long as bodies are either well-ventilated or kept under airtight conditions after being dried out, says Nerlich. Several natural mummies in crypts weren’t entirely accidents. One Upper Austrian mummy known as the Luftg’selchter Pfarrer was intentionally stuffed with water-absorbing materials and treated with salts to delay decay temporarily before he naturally mummified in his crypt.

Bogs

Natural mummification almost always involves somehow getting rid of water, either by removing it entirely or turning it into ice. So may be a bit surprising that wet, swampy bogs can preserve human remains for millennia.

The oldest bog mummy is Cashel Man, who was probably killed in a sacrifice around 2,000 B.C. His body was naturally mummified because of the unusual chemical conditions in bogs.

“There are several factors which cause human remains to be mummified in bogs,” says archaeologist Isabella Mulhall of the National Museum of Ireland. “The lack of oxygen, the cool dark environment… the [acidity] levels of the bog also has a role to play.”

A type of moss often found in bogs also helps mummify bodies, Mulhall adds. Sphagnum moss releases an acidic sugary molecule called sphagnan, which takes up the nutrients that would otherwise nourish microbes that cause decay. This helps mummify corpses—though sphagnan also leaches the calcium out of bones, weakening them.

The acidic fluids in bogs chemically alter the body, not unlike leather tanning or pickling. That’s why most bog bodies, no matter how they looked in life, have dark, leathery skin and bright red hair.

Many bog bodies appear to have met rather violent ends—a fate shared with many other natural mummies. But because luck happened to preserve their bodies, the victims of these ancient tragedies can still tell scientists about themselves and their societies. The same processes that mummify human skin and organs can also sometimes preserve undigested food in the stomach, blood, traces of disease-causing microbes, and even clues about the ecosystems and climates that ancient people lived in.

“In a sense,” says Arriaza, “all these ancient remains are time capsules.”

[radiojamming]

Back by demand (and for a longer period of time, with more options)

[wild-at-mind]

Every time my hare picture gets a note it makes me so happy. :)

Hares are so beautiful. I once took a series of photos of one that had been hit by a car very recently. The photos are gorgeous and disgusting at the same time. The beautiful head with its huge yellow eye, and the long hair so thick and wavy and layered. And just a little lower the wound in the side with the intestines spilling out, the fresh blood. I know the photos with the gore would upset people but I long to find the right audience who would understand them.

I don't want it to seem like I'm trying to be all edgy and boasting that blood and guts don't bother me, or that I'm thrilled by the idea of an animal dying. If it had been me who had hit the hare in my car, I would have been inconsolable. But it wasn't, I was just the finder. I think it was the fact that it must have happened only minutes before that is fascinating. You very rarely find an animal so recently dead.

I don't know. Just rambling. I hate to say it but there's probably a subreddit somewhere where these photos would be welcomed, however I have no desire to become a redditer so I guess we will never know.

[subleop]

100 Kinky asks 😈

Top bottom or vers?

Dom, sub, switch?

On a scale of 0 to 10 how kinky would you say you are?

How many people have you had sex with last year?

What size is your penis?

When was your most recent boner?

When did you last cum?

How often do you jerk off?

What is the last thing you jerked off to?

Where did you last cum?

Are you hornier in the morning or evening?

What are your 3 favorite kinks?

What are your limits?

What kink would you most like to try?

What kink have you tried but didn’t enjoy?

Do you have a master/sub?

What’s the kinkiest thing you’ve done?

Favorite piece of underwear you own?

What underwear would you like to buy/be gifted? (pics welcome)

What underwear are you wearing right now and how long have you been wearing it?

Have you ever been wearing a jock or a thong to work?

Have you ever gone to work commando?

What socks are you wearing right now and how long have you been wearing them?

What shoes are you wearing right now and how long have you been wearing them?

Have you ever sniffed someone else’s underwear, socks or sneakers? Or made someone sniff yours?

Have you ever come inside a sock? A sneaker/boot?

Are you into body smells? What kind?

Are you into pits?

How hairy are you?

Do you prefer hairy or smooth?

Do you like being shaven by a dom/shaving a sub?

Do you like humiliation?

Do you enjoy exposing a sub/being exposed?

Do you like dirty talk? What names do you like calling/being called by?

Do you like spitting/being spitted on?

Do you like being punished/punishing a sub?

Do you enjoy receiving/inflicting pain? How strong?

What is your favorite pain instrument?

Do you like giving a spanking/getting spanked?

Do you like slapping/getting slapped?

Have you ever gotten marks/given a sub marks from impact play?

Would you hit a sub’s balls/let someone hit your balls?

Do you like chastity?

Have you ever worn a chastity device/been a keyholder? For how long?

Are you wearing a cage/keeping someone locked right now?

What is your favorite chastity device? Do you own any?

Do you like cock rings?

Do you like choking/being choked? How strong?

Do you like breath control?

Do you enjoy gas masks?

Have you ever tried poppers? Do you like that?

Do you like ass play?

What’s the largest thing you have fitted in your ass/someone else’s ass?

Do you own any ass toys? Which kind?

What’s your favorite thing to put inside your ass/someone’s ass?

Do you like getting fingered? How many fingers can you fit?

Do you like fist? Have you ever tried?

Is there anything in your ass right now?

What’s your prepping routine? Are you naturally clean?

Do you like rimming? Being rimmed?

Have you ever worn a toy in public?

Do you own any fetish gear?

Are you into leather?

Are you into spandex?

Do you own a rubber suit?

Are you into pup play? Do you own any gear?

Do you like putting a collar on a sub/being collared up?

Do you like holding your sub on a leash/being leashed up?

Do you like tying up/being tied up?

Do you own any bondage gear? What’s your favorite?

How long have you ever kept someone/been tied up?

Do you enjoy sensory deprivation?

Do you like putting a gag on a sub/being gagged?

Do you like mummification?

Do you like tickle torture?

Do you like consensual non-consensual?

Do you like role play? What scenario turns you on?

Do you like piss/watersports? How hard do you like it?

Have you ever tasted your own piss?

Have you ever tasted another man’s piss? Has another man ever tasted your own?

Have you ever pissed yourself/made someone piss themselves for fun?

Do you get turned on at public urinals?

Do you get turned on pissing in public/seeing other men piss in public?

Are you into farting on someone/being farted on?

Have you ever farted on someone/been farted on for fun?

Are you into scat? How hard would you like to go?

Have you ever tried scat play?

Have you ever given/received a blumpkin?

Are you into sounding?

What’s your darkest fantasy?

Do you like anonymous public sex? Ever tried a glory hole?

Have you ever visited a gay bathhouse? A cruising bar?

Have you ever attended an orgy?

Have you ever attended a fetish event?

Have you ever had sex with a straight friend?

Do you watch porn often? What’s your favorite way to watch it?

Do you read smut?

Do you have many kinky friends? Do your friends now you’re kinky?

Do you have a kinky partner?

Truth or dare? 😈

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: Death (& Cheating Death)

Oddly enough, not all experts – or even countries – agree on what death actually is.

Brain activity stops

Temperature drops

Cells break down

Organs decay

Bacteria produce gas

In Britain, death is said to happen when:

The person has lost the capacity to ever be conscious again.

All the functions of the brainstem (such as telling the heart to beat and the lungs to inflate) have stopped.

What happens when someone has died?

Almost at once, blood begins to drain from the little blood vessels near the surface of the skin. This makes it look pale.

Bodily tissue starts to break down very quickly. That’s why organs are removed for transplant as soon as possible after someone dies.

Some organs function for longer than others after death. Brain cells go quickly, in no more than about 3 or 4 minutes. But muscle and skin cells may last for hours – perhaps a whole day.

In fact, a corpse is still very much alive. No, the person isn’t alive any more, but all the bacteria inside the body, plus all the others that flock in, certainly are. As they eat the body, they produce all kinds of smelly gases. When there’s no flesh remaining, there’s nothing left to cause a smell.

In some conditions, this process of decay is disrupted. This can happen naturally, as in the cases of bodies falling into peat bogs and being preserved (because the acids in the peat essentially pickle the flesh). But it can be done on purpose too.

Mummification

After pharaohs and some other members of the nobility died in Ancient Egypt, their bodies were preserved.

Most of their organs were taken out (though their hearts were left in place).

To remove the brain, a thin metal stick was poked up into their nose then wiggled around.

This whisked the brain up, turning it into a runny slop that could drain out through the nostrils.

Next, their bodies were dried out for 40 days.

Then they were coated in natural preservatives (things that would stop the body decomposing), such as beeswax, and wrapped in many layers of linen.

This completed the process of mummification.

What happens if the head is chopped off?

In the past, some criminals had their heads cut off as punishment, and members of the public would go along to watch.

Some reported seeing chopped-off heads blinking or even attempting to speak.

In 1803, two German scientists investigated these reports.

They pounced on heads as they fell and shouted, ‘Do you hear me?’ None responded.

They concluded that the brain, when separated from the body, lost consciousness immediately – or at least too quickly to measure.

How quickly?

Modern estimates range between 2 and 7 seconds. Which is quick.

But it still means that a brain in a chopped-off head might have a genuine out-of-body experience.

CHEATING DEATH

Your body is pretty tough. And as you know, your brain works very hard to keep you alive. Some uncomfortable experiments have revealed the amazing things it can do. Take extreme heat, for example...

The Walk-in Oven

In the 18th century, a doctor in London called Charles Blagden built what was essentially an oven big enough for a person to walk inside.

He and his friends would stand inside it for as long as they could bear.

Blagden managed ten minutes at a temperature of 92.2 degrees Celsius.

His friend, a famous botanist called Joseph Banks, managed 99.4 degrees – but only for seven minutes.

Unsurprisingly, the volunteers’ skin warmed up dramatically.

But Blagden also took the temperature of their urine.

He did this right before and after the oven experience.

And he found that there was no change.

That meant that their inner ‘body temperature’ had stayed the same.

This showed the toughness of the human body – it can regulate its own temperature even when outside temperatures are extreme.

He also noticed that the volunteers sweated a lot. This led him to realize that sweating is important for cooling the body.

Some of what we know about the toughness of the human body comes not from experiments, but from accidents and ‘lucky’ escapes.

The Deep Freeze

When Erika Nordby was a toddler, she woke up one night and wandered out of her home in Canada.

It was the middle of winter, and freezing outside.

When she was finally found, her heart hadn’t been beating for at least 2 hours.

But Erika was carefully warmed up at a local hospital, and she made a full recovery.

Just a couple of weeks later, a two-year-old boy on a farm in the USA did almost exactly the same thing.

He also recovered fully.

It sounds extraordinary – but dying is the last thing that your body wants to do.

Falling from a Plane

On 24 March 1944, a British airman called Nicholas Alkemade was in an RAF plane flying over Germany.

His plane was hit and burst into flames.

By the time he got to his parachute, it was on fire. So he decided to jump.

He was 3 miles above ground and falling at 120 miles per hour.

‘It was very quiet,’ he recalled later. He had no sensation of falling.

‘I felt suspended in space.’

Suddenly, he found himself crashing through the branches of some pine trees.

He landed with a thud in a snowbank, in a sitting position.

He had somehow lost both his boots and had a sore knee and some minor scrapes. But otherwise he was fine.

After World War II, Alkemade got a job in a chemical plant.

While he was working with chlorine gas, his mask became loose.

He was exposed to dangerously high levels of the chemical.

He lay unconscious for 15 minutes before co-workers dragged him out. Miraculously, he survived.

After he returned to work, he was adjusting a pipe one day when it burst and sprayed him from head to foot with sulphuric acid.

He suffered extensive burns. But he survived.

Shortly after returning to work again, a 9-foot-long metal pole fell on him from a height and very nearly killed him.

Incredibly, he survived.

He then found a much safer job – as a furniture salesman.

Alkemade went on to die peacefully in his bed at the age of 64.

Source ⚜ More: Writing Notes & References Writing Notes: Autopsy ⚜ Word List: Kill ⚜ Decompose Worksheets: Death & Sacrifice

[eldritch-spouse]

Sometimes greedy gambits do work out.

Your typical greedy fiend may wax about their insatiable desire for the material, how satisfaction is the death of their nature and never shall they cease stretching their fingers towards the next shining trophy-

But they know limits.

They have that little bit of normalcy that tells them when it's time to drop something, even if it leaves a taste like curdled milk in their mouths.

Not Xiko.

Xiko grabbed onto something and he did not let go.

Not even when death came knocking at his door.

This celebrity of the Greed Ring was known for being the biggest, most successful human/monster trafficker of Hell itself. Xiko, a mere mid-ranker, yet clever and crafty enough to dethrone nearly everyone in his field of vile work.

Wanted humans and monsters worth owning? In mint condition? With some really rare traits? Leave it to him and his boys, you won't be disappointed.

With great skill and talent comes great danger, but Xiko didn't cower when he started to gain many an enemy, when he could no longer count them, when he spent most of his time hunting them down rather than hunting the poor souls he's supposed to sell. With each visit, he'd return home with a few trophies to remember his victory.

Things were going well.

His empire of fifth kept growing, enough so that it garnered the attention of the very Lord Rinx, a client Xiko both reveres and dreads, due to his extravagant tastes. Why, he ever earned himself a juicy deal with this strange, extremely popular establishment on the surface that constantly bulk-orders humans. The Clergy's Eye or something of the sort, he knows the Icons had been there before.

How impressive is that? Enough for prideful folk to eye him wantonly.

Xiko had the opportunity to grow in rank, to sit at Rinx's table and negotiate starting a little jewelry store in the heart of Greed to keep up appearances and branch out. What luxuries.

Unfortunately, all highs lead to lows.

His health starts deteriorating inexplicably. Xiko begins being unable to move properly without chronic bursts of pain debilitating him from doing much of anything other than lie and wait for the wave of torment to pass. He has no idea where it's coming from. The pain is so great he gets blinded and passes out in some episodes.

The best doctors he can find tell Xiko he developed something terminal. Not quite a cancer, similar, something only demonoids can exhibit.

But what did the name of it matter? His own monumental riches wouldn't save him from certain doom.

One might think Xiko would do some soul searching with the time he had left, as laughable as that sounds for a being as rotten as him.

Not even close.

You don't get this far without being stubborn.

Things can't end as they are. Xiko can't die, he has so much to do and so much to oversee, it's simply not an option. He can't.

In the midst of despair and hopeless solution-seeking, Xiko finds a possible answer to his impossible conundrum inscripted in his most favored trophy, a timeless chalice.

Between its jewels and lovely finishes, the instructions for a ritual sat written in one of the oldest tongues in Hell. Having a historian for a friend sure comes in handy, doesn't it?

Said acquaintance is there to witness it when Xiko grows mad enough to try it, at the hands of demons who perpetuate these ancient practices.

A mummification-like ritual.

Except, to avoid death, Xiko must remove the two organs which the soul is most connected to, the brain and heart.

He knew what he was getting into when he laid on that altar.

He knew that he would suffer physical trauma beyond anything he could ever have experienced in life. He knew he would come out of it looking like a completely different being. That he would no longer be a demon.

And he was ready.

He was ready when they started chanting.

He was ready when his jaw was stretched to absurd proportions.

He was ready when his chest was torn open.

When he danced in that barrier between life and death, looking down at himself while his figure withered and contorted.

Those memories are... Scratchy, to say the least.

Xiko recalls screaming at the top of his exposed lungs and feeling his skin rip from several sides all at once, as if rejecting him. He remembers when his skull was crushed and how he could hear it for a moment. He knows he twisted and shriveled like a bug on that marble.

And that he woke up.

Wrapped like a present.

Dead yet amongst the living.

To continue his work. To remain forever at the top.

So what if he was emaciated now? If he'd never get rid of the massive scar where his figure was torn open, if his eyes now reside inside his bizarre gaping maw and his arms are elongated? Xiko had made it.

And while death was unavoidable, it was not the end.

In fact, it was the beginning of something a lot more amusing for Xiko.

He found his new appearance frightened his competition. Rumors of him being an undead diety spread. No longer featuring a core name or even something as simple as a sigil, Xiko was freed of even more weaknesses.

He made no effort to hide what he had become the next time he was present at Greed's Conqueror's Spoils festival. His mangled, infernal undead form on the spotlight.

Some of them were smart enough to understand what he had turned into, knew to stop pursuing him. For when you take something from a mummy, it cannot rest until it retrieves its possession.

Others came to find that out eventually.

Perhaps the person Xiko feels most sorry for is, not one of his enemies, but you.

You poor thing, still trying to escape him, still trying to lockpick your cages and manipulate his men, trying to make it out at all costs.

You never think twice when you set foot outside his territory.

Unaware that he'll always instinctively know where to find his "stolen" possession.

[elisegravesbondageliberation]

Encased in Silicone, part three ft Elise Graves and Strange Hobbies If you watched parts one and two of Encased in Silicone, you should have a pretty good idea as to the lengthy and involved process that a silicone encasement requires. For sure, it is a labor of love! And although I generally enjoy the long, repetitive processes needed in activities such as mummification, fiberglass casting, and silicone encasement, I must say that I REALLY enjoy when the process is complete and I get to bask in the glow that emanates from one VERY helpless person! As the silicone used in this particular project was softer than in a previous silicone encasement project, I wanted to make the most of Strange Hobbies’ helpless, yet somewhat wiggle-able, form by attaching many electro pads to his major muscle groups! I really wanted to see him wiggle once he was totally encased in his very thick silicone cocoon! With four pads placed over his abdominal muscles and four pads placed on his thighs, I was excited to get him cooking! Every little wiggle of his trapped body in the silicone sarcophagus brought me delight, as I knew all of the work to get him encased was worth it. With one breathing tube separating him from the outside world, I felt powerful with it in my hands, pinching it closed when it pleased me to do so. The only other hole to the outside world was located at the tip of his external catheter. Naturally, Strange Hobbies was pretty excited to be in his silicone world, so it didn’t take much before he made quite the mess from ejaculating. I am sure the fact that I was masturbating myself on top of his rubbery shell tipped him over the edge. Oops! That just means that all that electro current flowing through his body feels just that much more intense post-orgasm! :) Just because he orgasmed didn’t mean that he was coming out of his pod! Oh no! I worked much too hard on this to just let him out! He needs to stay in there much longer for my tastes. Therefore I attach a piss bag to his catheter so there would be no excuse for coming out! This project is one for the books!

[house-of-the-sun-project]

[ HoS ] ANCIENT EGYPTIAN AMULETS

The Isis knot is just as iconic as it is mysterious. It is unclear what this knot is meant to represent exactly: some Egyptologists argue it may have been a very ancient form of menstrual pad, while others believe it had religious or decorative purposes."

The Djed Pillar, representing Osiris' spine, is a powerful amulet used by both the living and the dead. Often made from various materials, it is also depicted in Egyptian art with a pair of hands and a feathered crown topped by the sun, symbolizing Osiris and divine resurrection.

The Ancient Egyptians believed the core of our intelligence and mind was the heart, rather than the brain. They couldn’t determine this latter's purpose, so during the mummification process, they discarded it, pulling it out through the nose with a hook, leaving only the essential vital organs to be preserved for the afterlife. In fact, the heart was regarded as both the source of emotions and feelings, and the seat of one's entire being—no wonder it was shaped like a vase!

Even those unfamiliar with Ancient Egyptian art recognize this iconic symbol. Over time, the Ankh, or 'Key of Life,' became synonymous with Egypt itself and its ancient religion. Some Egyptologists suggest that its shape may have been inspired by a knotted cloth, though its use was primarily decorative.

In some murals, strings of Ankh symbols were used to represent water, as it was the ultimate symbol of life for the Egyptians—everything originated from it, making the Ankh a fitting metaphor.

In other depictions, gods are shown 'spoon-feeding' pharaohs and the dead with an Ankh in their hands, symbolizing the soul being revived by the divine as it begins its journey to the afterlife."

One of the most common artifacts found by archaeologists during excavations, the Scarab is an iconic amulet that served many purposes for both the living and the dead.

In life, it was used as a seal, a protective amulet, or simply as jewelry, often worn as a ring or necklace, typically linked to a golden wire. In death, it was frequently placed around the neck and functioned as a protective charm for the heart, earning the name 'heart scarab.'

The scarab was the sacred animal of the god Khepri and symbolized the sun.

For the Ancient Egyptians, the soul was divided into several parts—nine in total, including the physical body. It was crucial that each of these parts made it to the afterlife, allowing the dead to be reborn in the Duat, the Egyptian underworld. The Ba, which represents our unique personality, was often placed on the mummy's chest so it could rest near the heart, another key component of the soul.

In Ancient Egypt, the papyrus stem was a common decorative element. Temple columns were often shaped to resemble this iconic plant. Its frequent appearance in Egyptian art was partly due to its significant color: green, the color of resurrection, sacred to the god Osiris. By placing a papyrus-shaped amulet around a mummy’s neck, the Egyptians believed it would ensure eternal youth for the soul in the afterlife.

The Eye of Horus, modeled after the left eye of the falcon god of kingship, is one of the most iconic symbols of Ancient Egypt. Found in numerous tombs, it was continuously produced from the late Old Kingdom through to the Roman period. It served both as an amulet to ward off evil and as a decoration on boats and mummies. Representing the moon and the righteous nature of the god, it is also closely connected to other benevolent deities, such as Osiris, Thoth, and Ma'at. Tied to the story of Horus's restored eye, it became a symbol of health and healing.

Used exclusively in funerary contexts, this peculiar amulet depicts the index and middle fingers of a right hand, which were believed to 'heal' the incision made by embalmers to remove the mummy’s organs during the mummification process.

[y-rhywbeth2]

Gods & Clergy: Bhaal #2

Link: Disclaimer regarding D&D "canon" & Index [tldr: D&D lore is a giant conflicting mess. Larian's lore is also a conflicting mess. You learn to take what you want and leave the rest]

Religion | Gods | Shar | Selûne | Bhaal #1 | Bhaal #2 | Mystra | Jergal | Bane #1 | Bane #2 | Bane #3 | Myrkul | Lathander | Kelemvor | Tyr | Helm | Ilmater | Mielikki | Oghma | Gond | Tempus | Silvanus | Talos | Umberlee | Corellon | Moradin | Yondalla | Garl Glittergold | Eilistraee | Lolth | Laduguer | Gruumsh | Bahamut | Tiamat | Amodeus | The rest of the Faerûnian Pantheon --WIP

Because I found some extra stuff on Bhaalists.

Briefly featuring; secret identities, how to consecrate an altar, acceptable targets for sacrifice, red rooms, mummification, do not steal a Bhaalist's knife, and maybe some other stuff.

-

"Murder is natural. Slaying is what all creatures in Faerûn do, daily if they can. At least daily, slay something living—and the Lord of Murder is most pleased if the victim is one of your own kind and as formidable as, or more powerful than, you. Kill with swift skill, not by torture, forced suicide, falls, or collisions. Do it personally, with ever-greater deftness and elegance, and teach others the skills and the delights of slaying. "Deathbringers are to slay with enough skill that witnesses are impressed. They are always to challenge those more powerful than themselves, the clergy of other deities being prize targets. Slay with pleasure, but never with anger. Be in exquisite control of yourself. Utter the name of Bhaal so the victim can hear it. Ideally, it should be the last word a victim hears." - more Bhaalist dogma

Deathbringer appears to be a generic term for a Bhaalist who is part of the church. Or it's an alternative term for Deathstalker, it's hard to tell. Going on context, I assume it means the former.

In the time between his death and his resurrection, Bhaal no longer spoke directly to his followers even though he seemed to be answering prayers. He contacted them only rarely, and only in the form of nightmares.

Worshipping Bhaal is legal and persecuting his followers is considered... risky. Nobody wants to offend the gods. Murder, on the other hand, is very much illegal. Due to the fact that Bhaal is worshipped by committing very illegal murders, this gets complicated.

As with all evil and disruptive faiths, Bhaalists are permitted to worship so long as they don't disrupt functioning society and follow various stipulations: keeping their religious practices out of public view; not getting caught red handed doing murder; not rocking the boat and causing the public to panic; and performing agreed upon services for the government for example. If they keep their end of the agreement, the law politely turns to look away.

Bhaalists protect their ability to worship the Lord of Murder by courting the halls of power, making themselves indispensable to the local government and nobility, and infiltrating law enforcement to cover their tracks. Many of them cut out the middleman and take positions of power themselves.

To make life easier for themselves, most Bhaalists have a "daytime identity" as a regular citizen, and keep their personal shrines out of sight (part of the restriction violent and evil faiths must follow in order to be permitted to operate in the Realms). The public should not be able to identify random Bhaalists walking amongst them.

Incidentally, Bhaalist shrines are kept holy by being anointed with the followers' own blood.

Bhaalists use their daily life to observe the city and consider their target. Preferred targets include:

Adventurers and travellers nobody knows. -

Criminals and troublemakers people will be glad to be rid of. -

People who are rising in power who might cause trouble for Bhaalists with that power -

The clergy of Bhaal's enemies: (Chauntea, goddess of agriculture; Helm, god of guards and law; Lathander, god of birth and renewal; Torm, protector of the common folk; Ilmater, god of martyrs; and Lliira, goddess of joy)

Favourite hunting grounds for Bhaalists tend to be either the main streets and markets (if they're looking to draw attention to the sacrifice, perhaps to make a statement) or the slums and poorer areas.

A daily murder is preferred by Bhaal, but only once a tenday is the murder of a person mandated. When the time comes, the Bhaalist will don their religious clothing and head out on their hunt.

Once the target is dead, they will take some trophy from them (and likely strip them of their wealth and possibly ransack their house, if possible). This trophy could be a personal possession, or a body part (for example; a finger, or their heart). The "trophy" is offered up to Bhaal on the altar, with a prayer, and Bhaal permits his followers to keep whatever wealth they acquire to fund their daily life and "continue their holy work." Many Bhaalists aim for a wealthy life, both for the comfort and for the fact that power and money are great ways to avoid anybody arresting you if you fuck up.

If in a city with a larger temple, then the worshipper is to tithe 50% of all coins taken this way to the temple.

If there is no temple in the area, then every member will be assigned a higher ranking priest as a handler of sorts, and they will give that 50% to them instead.

The church couldn't care less about non-monetary gains and land deeds, you can keep those.

Temples are not open to the public and may not be placed in view of the public, hence why they are built beneath the streets. There are also remote monasteries and monastic orders beyond the reach of the cities, which presumably hunt travellers on the roads at night and put the fear of their god into the hearts of nearby villages and farmers.

Bhaalists recruit by essentially running red rooms and snuff shows in secret locations at night; often cellars, basements and also private rooms in the upper floors of more well-to-do buildings. Guests wear masks to protect their privacy (the Bhaalists will presumably be wearing their full religious veils instead of masks).

The targets chosen for the spectacle will typically be those public opinion deems deserving of death. Violent criminals, for example. These slayings will not be considered a crime by viewers, and with a reputation for vigilantism, the cult may even come to be viewed favourably by some. Joining the cult means you get to "volunteer" the next guest star.

-

While I don't know how widely practiced this is, Bhaalists do mummify their dead. Invading a Bhaalist tomb may backfire when the long-dead priests take issue with their visitors.

Bhaalists blades may be cursed, in case they're stolen (particularly those they bury with their dead). Once unsheathed, the blades can't be returned to their scabbard until they've been used to take a life. Attempts to remove the curse with counter-magic will cause them to explode violently in a burst of metal shrapnel and fatal poison (which will be absorbed into the body on skin contact).

[egypt-museum]

"Journey back in time to explore one the most fascinating and influential periods of ancient history.

In this concise and incredibly readable short history, Egyptologist Dr Campbell Price asks us how we know so much about life in ancient Egypt, from the working lives of pyramid builders to the power of the Pharaoh.

The book explores the complexities of the hieroglyphic writing system, the meanings behind the ritual of mummification, and the functions of Egyptian art. What was the legacy of famous pharaohs like Tutankhamun and Queen Cleopatra, and how does the colonial nature of archaeology shape our understanding of ancient Egypt."

— Brief Histories: Ancient Egypt, by Campbell Price

[acheronist]

can you recommend some historical documents / other sources to learn about your ice mummies? :) I love natural mummification, and the franklin expedition, and I need a rabbit hole to fall into

ok i cannot stress enough how much you need to read frozen in time: the fate of the franklin expedition by owen beattie and john geiger. there should be an epub/pdf version around somewhere online if you look hard enough. this book is the holy grail of franklin expedition ice mummy anthropology and investigative forensic archeology and i think it ought to be required reading if you want to be a reputable franklin expedition nerd !!!!

and if you don't have time to read a whole book or are still curious before it arrives in the mail, then good news! you can watch buried in ice, the nova documentary from 1988 which is ABOUT the exhumations of the lads on beechey island by the same team who wrote frozen in time. and then i'm also going to direct you to @radiojamming's exceedingly detailed and beautiful research into john hartnell's life, and also @entwinedmoon's exceedingly detailed and beautiful research into john torrington's life. as far as i know i don't think anyone on this webbed site has done a deepdive into william braine's life but if anyone HAS then I WOULD LIKE TO SEE IT.

also here are the autopsy reports for torrington & hartnell.

here's the radiology report for hartnell & braine

[radiojamming]

HI YES HELLO

Many of you have brought up sokushinbutsu on the poll as an option. I thought about what they would count toward, but part of it is that sokushinbutsu were intentionally made but through natural (and ritualistic!) means, so they're in kind of a gray area on the mummification chart. HOWEVER, I do think they count toward the sacred, purified air option because they were usually made in religious areas under extremely specific conditions. If you want to pick something in honor of the sokushinbutsu, go for that option!

[talonabraxas]

Kernunnos 𐂂 Talon Abraxas

Samhain Deities

As Samhain marks the thinning of the veil between worlds, various deities associated with death, rebirth, and transformation are honored. While the deities listed below are commonly revered during Samhain, traditions vary widely, and many practitioners may choose to honor other gods or spirits that resonate more closely with their personal or cultural beliefs.

The Morrigan (Celtic – Ireland)

The Morrigan, often appearing as a trio of goddesses, represents the cycle of life, death, and rebirth. As a warrior goddess, she presides over fate, especially foretelling death in battle. Her connection to death and transformation makes her particularly revered during Samhain.

Cernunnos (Celtic – Gaul)

Known as the ‘Horned God’ and associated with wild and forested areas, Cernunnos is often invoked during Samhain for his connection to the cycle of life and death. He is a mediator between humans and nature, and between the physical and spiritual worlds.

Hecate (Greek)

Hecate is the Greek goddess of witchcraft, magic, crossroads, and the spirit world. Given her ability to communicate with the dead and travel between worlds, her influence is especially powerful during Samhain, when the veil between worlds is thinnest.

The Cailleach (Celtic – Scotland and Ireland)

The Cailleach is a divine hag, often associated with winter. During Samhain, she starts her reign, wielding her staff to freeze the ground. However, she is not just a winter goddess; she also embodies the cycle of death and rebirth.

Hel (Norse)

Hel is the Norse goddess of the underworld, who presides over those who die of illness or old age. Her domain, also named Hel, is a place of peace and rest where the dead await rebirth, reflecting the themes of Samhain.

Anubis (Egyptian)

Although not a traditional deity of Samhain, some modern pagan practices have incorporated Anubis due to his role as the Egyptian god of death and mummification. He is known for guiding souls in the afterlife, fitting the theme of spirit communication during Samhain.

[do-androids-dream-ao3acc]

Saving Face

(8x05 speculation fic based on the promo stills)

“That's not a pimple, Evan.”

“No, it's the curse of the mummy.”

“It's what?”

Buck can't blame Tommy for the raised eyebrow, he's behaving weird even by his standards. For one thing, it’s strange to welcome your boyfriend, hood pulled firmly into your face, with a fleeting embrace to avoid the inevitable kiss. Tommy has his strategies though, and eventually he got it out of him, "There's something on my face, it's a pimple, I mean, it's Halloween, it's embarrassing" and similar babble. So he made him pull down his hood. Buck doesn't like the look on Tommy's face, though. He sighs.

“The mummy,” he repeats, taking a deep breath. “I... I might have done something stupid.”

Tommy smiles. It's such a sweet smile, a mixture of indulgence and, well, being smitten. Buck loves it when Tommy does that, when the corners of his mouth turn upwards and the fine lines next to his eyes deepen.

“I'm sure it has nothing to do with mummies, but just start from the beginning.”

“Yeah, well... but it has to do with a mummy,” sighs Buck. “Halloween decorations at the fire station, precisely. I love Halloween, Tommy.“

Tommy's smile deepens. Of course he knows - Buck has been talking about nothing else in the last few weeks. This is new, like so many things: that someone listens to him unconditionally, doesn't look at him leniently as if he were a child. Maybe it is childish to love a holiday that is all about sweets, dressing up and pranks. But when it comes to his childhood, these are the days Buck remembers most fondly. These few carefree hours without thinking, without worries, away from his both overprotective and dismissive parents. The praise he got for his costumes - from strangers, never from his mother, whose pursed lips only demanded that Maddie not let him out of her sight. Buck may have made peace with many things from his past, but he doesn't want to miss out on the boyish fun that Halloween brings him.

“Anyway... Hen and I have a kind of competition every year to see who can come up with the weirdest decorations. She once brought a real skeleton, that was so cool!“

“A real skeleton?” Tommy repeats slowly, doubt in his eyes.

"Yeah," Buck explains with a grand gesture, "don't worry, it was all ethical and such. The guy has bequeathed his body to science, without exception.”

“Doesn't seem very scientific to me,” Tommy interjects, but Buck keeps talking.

"At any rate, I had to find something that was even better. Last month, there was an emergency at the museum, I think I told you about it...”

“Oh,” says Tommy, who seems to be slowly realizing where this is going. “The Egyptologist who somehow locked himself in a glass case?”

“Exactly. A real klutz, but also extremely nice and fascinating. I called him. Just about the prank, of course.”

He slips this information in afterwards so that Tommy doesn't think he thinks the guy is cool. He is cool, of course, but he’s not hot. It’s stimulating to see Tommy jealous, but now’s not the time.

“He said he can't give me any of the Egyptian mummies, and to be honest, I think they're creepy too. But they have others because they're preparing an exhibition about natural mummification through weather conditions.”

“Wait, your decoration was a real corpse?”

“A guy who died in 1868 when a tunnel collapsed in a salt mine. Preserved by salt, so cool.”

Tommy blinks and says, “Is that even legal?”

Buck shrugs, “The body couldn't be recovered for a hundred years, and there were no next of kin. So technically it belonged to the state, who decided to give it to the museum.”

“I meant, for the museum to just give you a corpse... never mind, go on.”

“It's no ordinary corpse, it's a mummy. A salt mummy, to be precise. Anyway, I brought it to the station in a wooden coffin.”

“These are not exactly ideal conditions for a corpse that’s over 150 years old.”

“Not really,” Buck grudgingly admits, ”I mean, I should have thought of that, shouldn't I? The museum guy should have reminded me. He's the absent-minded professor type, I think. Well, anyway... I don't know exactly. What if it was too warm, and the mummy was fuming something?”

“Oh,” Tommy says, sounding strangely relieved, ”you don't really think it was a curse, but bacteria?”

“Might not be much better,” Buck says gloomily. “This thing on my cheek is huge. Maybe it's filled with spiders or something. Or some ancient disease?”

“All right, now let me have a look at it.”

Buck lets out a deep sigh. He looks bad, he knows that, and he definitely doesn't want Tommy to take a closer look at him now. But the man tilts his head and says, as if he can read his mind, “Evan. Last month you had a cold, along with a Rudolf-like red nose and your adorable curls in an Einstein hairstyle. Do you really think anything you have on your face could throw me off?”

Buck remembers last month. Tommy had been worried because he hadn't responded to his messages, and he didn’t like the fact Bobby told him about Buck’s sick leave. “That's part of it,” he said at the time. “I don't just want to see you when you get medals, I also want to be there when you're full of snot.”

Buck still has to get used to that. Tommy leans forward and examines his face closely. He’s not very good in hiding his concerns.

“Nope, definitely not a pimple. Maybe an abscess. We should go to the hospital, it probably needs to be cut open.”

“No, we had plans for tonight,” protests Buck.

"Sure, if you want to scare the kids at the front door with your face, go ahead," Tommy replies dryly, "but I don't want it to inflame. Maybe it's already infected. You don't want a scar on your pretty face, honey.“

Buck blinks. Then he swallows. Then he blinks again.

“Y... you called me��”

Tommy looks confused for a moment, then grins.

“Oops. I actually had a different moment in mind when I first called you a pet name, but now is as good a time as any. Is that okay? Honey?”

“It's perfect.”

Buck's cheeks hurt from his smile, he can't stop. But it could also be the thing on his face hurting.

“Not too cheesy? Unmanly? Weird?”

Tommy's face is covered in a hint of pink, it's breathtaking.

“No,” says Buck, ”the only weird thing here is the thing on my face. But I don't want to go to hospital. It'll take hours.”

“Well, but...”

“Let's call Eddie. He's great with this kind of stuff.”

“Abscesses?”

“Field operations.”

"This isn't a war zone," Tommy says, but his face says otherwise. He sighs. “All right, call Eddie.”

Buck starts a video call, and when Eddie picks up, he puts his face close to the phone.

"Eddie," he begs, "come here and look at this!"

“Yikes,” Eddie says. “I'll be there in 30.”

“You might still need to see a doctor,” Tommy points out when Buck hangs up.

“Or not,” says Buck optimistically. “Whatever the outcome... I'm glad you're here.”

“Good,” says Tommy, and then his face does that adorable scrunch again. “I'd kiss you, but who knows about your other cheek.”

“You could disinfect it,” Buck suggests.

“Yeah, or we just wait for Eddie's opinion. I'm sure it'll be fine, and then I'll kiss you so much you'll wish I'd stop.”

“I would never,” says Buck, beaming.

[AO3] [All my BuckTommy on AO3]

[santoschristos]

Samhain Deities

As Samhain marks the thinning of the veil between worlds, various deities associated with death, rebirth, and transformation are honored. While the deities listed below are commonly revered during Samhain, traditions vary widely, and many practitioners may choose to honor other gods or spirits that resonate more closely with their personal or cultural beliefs.

The Morrigan (Celtic – Ireland)

The Morrigan, often appearing as a trio of goddesses, represents the cycle of life, death, and rebirth. As a warrior goddess, she presides over fate, especially foretelling death in battle. Her connection to death and transformation makes her particularly revered during Samhain.

Cernunnos (Celtic – Gaul)

Known as the ‘Horned God’ and associated with wild and forested areas, Cernunnos is often invoked during Samhain for his connection to the cycle of life and death. He is a mediator between humans and nature, and between the physical and spiritual worlds.

Hecate (Greek)

Hecate is the Greek goddess of witchcraft, magic, crossroads, and the spirit world. Given her ability to communicate with the dead and travel between worlds, her influence is especially powerful during Samhain, when the veil between worlds is thinnest.

The Cailleach (Celtic – Scotland and Ireland)

The Cailleach is a divine hag, often associated with winter. During Samhain, she starts her reign, wielding her staff to freeze the ground. However, she is not just a winter goddess; she also embodies the cycle of death and rebirth.

Hel (Norse)

Hel is the Norse goddess of the underworld, who presides over those who die of illness or old age. Her domain, also named Hel, is a place of peace and rest where the dead await rebirth, reflecting the themes of Samhain.

Anubis (Egyptian)

Although not a traditional deity of Samhain, some modern pagan practices have incorporated Anubis due to his role as the Egyptian god of death and mummification. He is known for guiding souls in the afterlife, fitting the theme of spirit communication during Samhain.

Image: Cernunnos – the Horned God

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Some Art Vocabulary

Abstract - Simplified, intended to capture an aspect or essence of an object or idea rather than to represent reality.

Amber - Tree resin that has become a fossil. It is semi-transparent and gem-like. Amber is used in jewelry today as it has been for thousands of years.

Amulet - Object, organic or inorganic, believed to provide protection and turn away bad luck. Amulets were often worn as jewelry in antiquity.

Anneal - To heat metal to make it soft and pliable.

Black-figure - Technique of vase painting developed in Greece in the 7th and 6th centuries BCE and adopted by the Etruscans. Figures are painted on a reddish clay vase in black silhouette and details are then cut away with a sharp point down to the red below. Sometimes artists added additional colors, especially purple-red and white.

Bronze Disease - Corrosion of a bronze object that cannot be permanently stabilized. Without special care, an object with bronze disease will continue to corrode.

Bust - Portrait of a person including the head and neck, and sometimes the shoulders and part of the chest.

Cameo Glass - Glass produced by layering two or more colors of glass. Generally, an upper layer of white stood out against a contrasting lower background, usually blue.

Cameo Stone - Hard stone, such as agate, naturally layered with bands of color. Artists took advantage of the layers to carve figures or decoration from an upper layer (or more than one), leaving a background layer of a different color.

Cast - To make in a mold from liquid metal. A cast object can be hollow or solid.

Chasing - Technique of adding definition and details to an image or design on metal from the front using blunt and sharp tools.

Conservator (of antiquities) - Professional responsible for preserving ancient objects and materials. Conservators usually have a general knowledge of chemistry and of ancient art-making practices and are often specialists in one material. Among many other responsibilities, they conduct technical and historical research and oversee preventive care such as climate control.

Contrapposto - (”opposite” in Italian) Pose of a standing figure with most of the weight on one leg and the other bent. This causes hips, shoulders, and head to shift in order to balance the body. One arm is often higher and one lower.

Emery - Hard, dense rock rich in corundum, found easily on the Cycladic Islands. A powerful abrasive for grinding and smoothing other stones.

Encaustic - Technique of painting using colored pigments mixed with wax. The waxy mixture was worked with a tiny spatula.

Gild - To apply a thin layer of gold foil or liquid gold (gilt) to create the look of solid gold.

Iconography - Study of and use in art of repeated images with symbolic meaning.

Incise - To press or cut into a surface (stone, metal, clay, wood) with a sharp tool to write text or create fine curving and linear details.

Inlay - To decorate an object by inserting a piece of another material into it so that it is even with the original surface.

Low Relief - Method of carving figures or designs into a surface so that they are raised slightly above a flat background.

Mosaic - Technique and type of artwork. The technique is to arrange cubes of stone, glass, and ceramic to form patterns and pictures in cement, usually on a floor. The artwork is the final story or decoration made of cubes.

Mummification - Process of preserving a body by drying it. The Egyptians removed internal organs and put natron, a natural mineral mixture, on and inside the body. This absorbed moisture and prevented decay.

Palmette - Stylized palm leaf used as decoration in ancient Greek and Roman art and architecture.

Pentelic - From Mount Pentelicus, near Athens. An adjective that mostly refers to the beautiful white Greek marble marble in its quarries.

Portrait - Image of a person, usually the head and face. Some portraits include part of the chest or show the whole body. The image may closely resemble a person or emphasize, idealize, or invent characteristics.

Repoussé - Technique of raising the outline of a design on metal by repeatedly heating and softening the metal and pushing the desired shapes into it from the back with a blunt tool.

Sarcophagus/Sarcophagi (pl) - Stone coffin, often decorated on the sides with mythological scenes carved in relief, sometimes with the image of the deceased person or couple on the lid. Used in Imperial Roman times from the early 100s into the 400s CE.

Stele/Stelai (pl) - Upright stone or wooden slab or pillar used to honor a person or mark a place. Often an inscribed grave marker or a boundary stone. (Also called stela/stelae.)

Syncretism - Blending of elements of different cultures, often resulting in new imagery or new interpretations.

Tessera/tesserae (pl) - Pieces of stone or other hard materials cut into squares or cubes to make mosaic art.

More: Word Lists ⚜ pt. 2