mummies!

i am reading this book called, "the care and conservation of paleontological material" (or of magical creatures, for harry potter fans) for my internship. it has this interesting chapter, chapter 9: preservation of human mummified specimens. i learned something new, and i would like to share it with you.

some of you may know this already, but i don't care--you've already started reading this, now you must finish. there are three different kinds of mummification: artificial mummification (like the mummies in egypt), natural mummification (bogmen!) and self-mummification (buddhist priests--and this is the one i'd never heard of).

self-mummification: i guess buddhist priests in japan during the 11-12th centuries were all about devising a process to preserve themselves. for about three years they would stop eating grains and starchy food--and then starve to death surrounded by candles (so, essentially, this is a ritualistic form of suicide). after they died, they were buried in an underground chamber for three years, whereafter the body was exhumed, stored in an airtight room for 17 days and, finally, dried off via candlelight. interesante, no?