Mummy Surgery
The Iranian authorities have announced plans to carry out some much needed surgery on six victims of a mine tragedy. If you are wondering why this disaster has not appeared on your news reports, it is probably because the disaster happened at least 1,700 years ago and the authority involved is the Iranian Archaeology Research Centre.
Fourteen years ago workers at the Chehrabad Salt Mine in Zanjan province discovered a dead body. Police called to investigate observed that the body was dried and shrunken and, furthermore, was wearing clothes that were no longer in fashion. They referred the matter to the local museum.
The archaeologists involved quickly identified the body as that of a man of about 35 who had died some 1,700 years ago and who had been mummfied by the extreme salt content of the mine. The cause of death could not be determined, but it was thought that he either became lost or trapped in ancient workings and died of natural causes.
Since then five other mummies have been found and the Iranians, who convened a two-day international conference on the subject of the Salt Men in late October, 2007, have decided that they would be justified in carrying out scientific research on the soft tissues and intestines of the mummies. They will be looking for evidence of diet, diseases, causes of death and any other information the bodies might reveal.
Head of the Archaeology Research Centre, Mohammed Hassan Fazeli Hashli, believes that there may be more mummies yet unfound, but in a very responsible action, has decided that the five already uncovered are as much as the Iranians can handle and preserve for the time being, so when the sixth was found recently they simply reburied the body in the mine.
