![]() ![]() Courtesy Mark RyanThose were the two operative words from today’s check in with Nefertweety. ![]() I guess a mummifying chicken has the same morbid appeal as a car crash.ĭumping clumpy natron: We did a total change out of natron today, with big, hard clumps being dumped and replaced with fresh, powdery natron. This process might take a little longer than we first estimate.ĭespite the stench, our 20 minutes of change out effort drew quite a crowd to the visible lab windows. Courtesy Mark RyanThe outside of the chicken didn’t appear much different today than on Tuesday. Not a lot of difference from Tuesday's check. Mummifcation in action: We took the whole mummy out of the natron chamber today to see how the body is mummifying. We loaded fresh natron into two bags, together not quite as full as the first effort, and stuffed the insides again. A few minutes of chipping away at the build-up with back end of a toothbrush broke up the hardened mess so that we were able to dump out enough of the moistened natron to finally get the bag out. But it had absorbed so much moisture, it wasn’t coming out the hole it went in. We tried to pull out the natron bag that had been stuffed inside the chicken carcass. On her behalf, we admitted that the mummification process was getting to a pretty nasty stage. Midway through our check of her progress, a SMM security guard stopped by to find out what was making the horrible smell that was wafting through the museum. Courtesy Mark RyanNefertweety got to meet SMM security today. Stinky chicken mummy: Friday's museum visitors weren't appreciating the odiferous nature of our in-progress chicken mummy. The chicken flesh is turning into a purple/maroon hue. The natron bags are sticking to the chicken flesh pretty strongly, so that’s a great sign that it’s working to dry out the tissues. Think of an alley dumpster on a hot, sunny July afternoon. And we could smell it the moment we lifted the aquarium cover off. Courtesy Mark RyanThe chicken is definitely drying out. Starting to mummify: The chicken is getting maroon/purple as the mummification process gets underway. We'll check the progress first thing on Monday morning. Now we just wait and let the natron start sucking the moisture out of the chicken's tissues. We also filled the bottom of the container with loose natron, and poured a little on top of the chicken, too, to make sure we got spots not completely covered by the bags. We poured the natron mixture into little bags that we packed inside the chicken and also around the outside. First, we thoroughly cleaned it with water and wine (a disinfectant).Īs the chicken dried, we mixed natron powder, combining baking soda (2 parts), washing soda (2 parts), and table salt (1 part). It's a regular, store-bought frying chicken. The chicken arrives at SMM and the work begins. Slung in strings, the chicken is ready to be dropped into its natron chamber to begin the mummification process. ![]()
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