The idea of extracting the brain through the nose is called incorrect.
Expert on the study of mummification Stephen Buckley believes that the idea that the ancient Egyptians extracted the brain through the nose during mummification is incorrect. According to him, they used a more effective method, reports Business Insider.
Bakly is an archaeologist and a specialist in analytical chemistry. According to him, he conducted experiments on sheep, which showed that extracting the brain in parts is not very effective.
According to Bakla, it was difficult and long to remove the brain in parts. He notes that in this case, the brain had to be “removed slowly, as small parts of the brain stuck to the metal hook as a result of multiple insertions and were extracted.” Instead, the Egyptians probably “whipped” the brain.
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“If you whip the brain with a hook for about 20 minutes, it will turn into a liquid and you can just pour it out,” Bakly said.
According to the expert, in some cases the brain was left inside the mummy. “Especially in the earlier, still fairly well-preserved royal mummies, they actually left the brain in place, so it didn't need to be removed,” Buckley said.
He notes that the Egyptians at the time did not know about microbes, but they understood that the removal of organs slowed down the decomposition of the body. If it was possible, the Egyptians removed all the internal organs and processed them for further storage, in some cases they were placed in special vessels.
But the brain was sometimes left in the body for mummification inside the skull during the embalming process. For example, Pharaoh Thutmose I, Queen Tia, the main wife of Pharaoh Amenhotep III, and Pharaoh Amenhotep I were found with preserved brain tissue.
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