Lady Dai – No One Knows Why This Ancient Mummy Is So Well Preserved
This Chinese woman has been preserved for more than 2,100 years and has baffled scientists.
Called the Lady of Dai, she is considered the best preserved mummy ever discovered.
His skin is soft, his arms and legs can bend, his internal organs are intact, and he still has his own blood, hair, and type A eyelashes.
The Lady of Dai, also known as Xin Zhui, lived during the Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD) and was the wife of the Marquis of Dai.
His grave was discovered within a hill known as Mawangdui, in Changsha, Hunan, China, in 1971, when workers were digging an air raid shelter.
According to an autopsy, Xin Zhui was overweight, suffered from back pain, high blood pressure, clogged arteries, liver disease, gallstones, diabetes, and had a heart attack.
According to an autopsy, Xin Zhui was overweight, suffered from back pain, high blood pressure, clogged arteries, liver disease, gallstones, diabetes and had a severely damaged heart.
He died of a heart attack at the age of 50 and experts attribute this to his luxurious lifestyle as a marquis.
Xin Zhui has even been nicknamed “The Diva Mummy” due to her apparent life of luxury.
This has led scientists to believe that this is the oldest case of heart disease.
Surprisingly, forensic archaeologists have deduced that Xin Zhui’s last meal was a helping of melons.
In her grave, buried 40 feet underground, she had a closet containing 100 silk garments, 182 pieces of expensive lacquer, makeup and toiletries.
He also had 162 carved wooden statuettes representing servants in his tomb.
According to records, Xin Zhui’s body was wrapped in 20 layers of silk, immersed in a slightly acidic liquid and sealed inside four coffins.
This coffin vault was then filled with 5 tons of coal and sealed with clay.
The tomb was made airtight and airtight so that bacteria could not thrive, but how the body was so well preserved remains a scientific mystery.
There are many unanswered questions and although the Egyptians were best known for their mummies, the Chinese were arguably the most successful at it.
The ancient Chinese method of preservation was not as invasive as that of the Egyptians, who removed many of the internal organs of their dead to preserve them separately.
For now, Xin Zhui’s incredible preservation remains a mystery.