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Tales Mummies Tell
FACT: Sand in their bread caused serious tooth problems for the ancient Egyptians, peasants and pharaohs alike.
FACT: Skull surgery was commonly performed by the Inca Indians of Peru.
FACT: A thick soup made of grain and seeds was a typical winter meal in Denmark during the Iron Age.
How can we be so sure of what ancient life was like? Largely because mummies have begun to "talk" to scientists. X-rays allow scientists to study mummies that have never been unwrapped! The shape of the face appears, and resemblances may establish family relationships. In the bones of a mummy, medical scientists can read age at death, signs of disease, fractures that healed. Teeth yield information about diet and health. Sometimes a mummy offers a surprise: an Egyptian mummy is found to have two skulls; another, long thought to be the child of a high priestess, turns out to be a baboon. Sometimes a mummy tells a moving story: examination of a girl's mummy shows she lived her short life in considerable pain; a man's mummy, with broken bones and slit throat, proves he met a violent death.
Generously illustrated with photographs ranging from the gruesome to the starkly beautiful, Tales Mummies Tell is a remarkable account of mummies--intriguing talebearers from the past and of the ways scientists unlock their secrets.
FACT: Skull surgery was commonly performed by the Inca Indians of Peru.
FACT: A thick soup made of grain and seeds was a typical winter meal in Denmark during the Iron Age.
How can we be so sure of what ancient life was like? Largely because mummies have begun to "talk" to scientists. X-rays allow scientists to study mummies that have never been unwrapped! The shape of the face appears, and resemblances may establish family relationships. In the bones of a mummy, medical scientists can read age at death, signs of disease, fractures that healed. Teeth yield information about diet and health. Sometimes a mummy offers a surprise: an Egyptian mummy is found to have two skulls; another, long thought to be the child of a high priestess, turns out to be a baboon. Sometimes a mummy tells a moving story: examination of a girl's mummy shows she lived her short life in considerable pain; a man's mummy, with broken bones and slit throat, proves he met a violent death.
Generously illustrated with photographs ranging from the gruesome to the starkly beautiful, Tales Mummies Tell is a remarkable account of mummies--intriguing talebearers from the past and of the ways scientists unlock their secrets.
118 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1985
4 people are currently reading
44 people want to read
About the author
Patricia Lauber
155 books21 followersPatricia Lauber is the author of more than sixty-five books for young readers. Many of them are in the field of science, and their range reflects the diversity of her own interests - bats, dolphins, dogs, volcanoes, earthquakes, the ice ages, the Everglades, the planets, and earthworms.
Two of her books, SEEDS: POP STICK GLIDE and JOURNEY TO THE PLANETS, were nonfiction nominees for The American Book Award. She was the 1983 winner of The Washington Post/Children's Book Guild Award for her overall contribution to children's nonfiction literature.
As well as writing books, Ms. Lauber has been editor of Junior Scholastic, editor-in-chief of Science World, and chief editor, science and mathematics, of The New Book of Knowledge.
A graduate of Wellesley College, she is married and lives in Connecticut. When not writing, she enjoys hiking, sailing, traveling, cooking, reading, and listening to music.
Two of her books, SEEDS: POP STICK GLIDE and JOURNEY TO THE PLANETS, were nonfiction nominees for The American Book Award. She was the 1983 winner of The Washington Post/Children's Book Guild Award for her overall contribution to children's nonfiction literature.
As well as writing books, Ms. Lauber has been editor of Junior Scholastic, editor-in-chief of Science World, and chief editor, science and mathematics, of The New Book of Knowledge.
A graduate of Wellesley College, she is married and lives in Connecticut. When not writing, she enjoys hiking, sailing, traveling, cooking, reading, and listening to music.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
June 5, 2024
TALES MUMMIES TELL is a great introduction to mummies in spite of appearing to be a young person's book, so I will therefore keep this one. There are five different types of mummies mentioned here. Of course, the vision that first comes to my mind when I hear the word 'mummy' is Boris Karloff's portrayal of the resurrected Egyptian mummy of Imhotep. Probably the most famous mummy was not human at all but rather a baby Woolly Mammoth discovered by Soviet gold prospectors in 1977. By the way, the Egyptians mummified animals as well as people. Possibly the most numerous source of mummies are those found of the ancient Inca Kingdom of Peru. The bogs of northern Europe have produced fine specimens of Iron Age people. Another remarkable find was a Chinese woman of rank known as Lady Li.
There is an interesting write up on each of these. Of special interest is that when mummies are examined with x-rays or CAT scans scientists get an idea of the health of a person at the time of their death. When an autopsy is performed secrets of the past are revealed. The contents of the stomach give evidence of what they ate. Both the desert and the Nile were sources of life and health hazards. The Egyptians must have suffered terribly from gum disease, most likely from the sand mixed in with their bread that wore down their teeth. Besides the crocodiles and hippopotamuses, both powerful man killers, the Nile was teeming with microorganisms bringing sickness and death. Surprisingly, diseases such as smallpox and tuberculosis were present in ancient times, both in the New World as well as the Old.
Mummies are formed when the bodies are dried out after death due to nature, like in Peru and Egypt, or sealed off from oxygen or frozen. Headhunters use heat in their methodology when making shrunken heads.
What scientists found interesting was that the Peruvian mummies showed that the people were the same height in sixteenth century as they were thousands of years ago, even after intermarrying with people from Spain and Africa. What I found sadly interesting was that the Spanish, in their quest for ever increasing amounts of gold and silver, forced the Incas to provide a tax in the form of men to work in the mines. More Inca men died in the mines than for all the other diseases put together.
The 'how' and 'why' of mummy creations are included with the photos in this book.
There is an interesting write up on each of these. Of special interest is that when mummies are examined with x-rays or CAT scans scientists get an idea of the health of a person at the time of their death. When an autopsy is performed secrets of the past are revealed. The contents of the stomach give evidence of what they ate. Both the desert and the Nile were sources of life and health hazards. The Egyptians must have suffered terribly from gum disease, most likely from the sand mixed in with their bread that wore down their teeth. Besides the crocodiles and hippopotamuses, both powerful man killers, the Nile was teeming with microorganisms bringing sickness and death. Surprisingly, diseases such as smallpox and tuberculosis were present in ancient times, both in the New World as well as the Old.
Mummies are formed when the bodies are dried out after death due to nature, like in Peru and Egypt, or sealed off from oxygen or frozen. Headhunters use heat in their methodology when making shrunken heads.
What scientists found interesting was that the Peruvian mummies showed that the people were the same height in sixteenth century as they were thousands of years ago, even after intermarrying with people from Spain and Africa. What I found sadly interesting was that the Spanish, in their quest for ever increasing amounts of gold and silver, forced the Incas to provide a tax in the form of men to work in the mines. More Inca men died in the mines than for all the other diseases put together.
The 'how' and 'why' of mummy creations are included with the photos in this book.
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October 15, 2009I dont like this we had a group we had to read a book in class, and there are creapy pictures in there. It is GROSS TOO!
September 20, 2008
This higher level read allows for interesting mummy facts that span the continents. The read is fast and very interesting. Most all of the photographs conjure a "Whoa" or "Oh gross" effect. This book works well as a research text as well as a leisure read.
December 4, 2013
A good book for older students about mummies. Includes a contents, further reading section and an index. Shows real pictures of the mummies.
January 21, 2021
قرأت هذا الكتاب عندما كنت في المدرسة. وأذكر انّي أحببته جدّا, خاصّة لاهتمامي بالفراعنة والحضارة المصرية القديمة.
April 22, 2020
While this is Scholastic book meant for younger audience, it is a treasure trove of information for people who have a passing interest in the different kinds of mummies found around the world. Lauber discusses mummies from Egypt, Peru, and peat bogs of Europe. The one down side is the book was written in 1992, and the prominent imaging studies were still done using conventional radiography. There is a brief mention of new CAT exams (sic), but none of the information since gathered from the use of CT and MR.
September 19, 2018
With every mummy book, there is always some nugget of information to be gained. This Scholastic book was no exception. Lauber provides an introduction to mummies that highlights animal and human as well as Egyptian, bog, South American, Asian, and Scythian mummies. Although the back of the cover states the book is generously illustrated, but they are all in black/white. They do carry detailed captions however.
August 21, 2020
Informational. Mummies really interest me especially Egyptian ones, however this book allowed me to learn things about all mummies.
December 11, 2023
A very informative book. I learned a lot about mummies and I appreciated the photos that were included. A good addition to my class library for sure.
March 18, 2025
I absolutely enjoyed this book and how much I learned from it
June 21, 2025
This is probably one of the last books I ever got through a school book order. I've owned my copy for more than 25 years, but probably haven't read it about as much time. For weird little kids like me who became hyper-fixated on relatively few topics of personal interest (mummies being one of them), this book was a must-read (and I read it many times). I even used it for a science report on mummies so that other kids could know how cool "real" mumies were, too (not just the ones that Brendan Fraiser was fighting in movie theaters at the time).
Though the means for studying mummies have improved a lot since the methods explained in this book, the information is still relevant to how scientists have used and still use mummified remains to study ancient people and cultures. This is a great introduction to mummies for any weird, interested kid (if it's even still in circulation).
Though the means for studying mummies have improved a lot since the methods explained in this book, the information is still relevant to how scientists have used and still use mummified remains to study ancient people and cultures. This is a great introduction to mummies for any weird, interested kid (if it's even still in circulation).
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July 8, 2010LIBRARY BOOKSHELVES
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews