[originaltext]Dr Simons: Well, as I said, there were three areas of interest, s

Dr Simons: Well, as I said, there were three areas of interest, so perhaps we should take each in turn.
Presenter: Fine. Let’s take the medical and physical evidence first.
Dr Simons: Mm. Well first of all, life expectancy. Although some very old individuals were encountered, and Rameses is a case in point-he was probably over 90! (Good Lord!) It seemed the average Egyptian died rather young. From about 30 to 35 years old on the whole, although the nobility, as might be expected, tended to live longer-some of them have been found to be 50 or 60 years old. Well, naturally, the older, they got the more medical problems were encountered, but some modern disorders have so far not been found. There is no evidence yet of any malignant tumours, for example, although the fact that most of the people studied were comparatively young could account for this. Another modern problem-dental decay-was also absent, probably due to the plain diet and absence of sugar, though there was another problem with the teeth caused by the same diet. The stones on which their flour was ground caused a lot of grit to get into the break and this eroded the teeth-so much that many older people must have suffered greatly and could have been confined to a liquid diet. An abscess on the jaw caused by this kind of erosion may in fact have contributed to the death of Rameses the Second. Analysis of the internal organs of several mummies has revealed that intestinal parasites were common, even among the upper classes (Really)-evidence of a generally low standard of public hygiene. And another widespread disorder was a form of anemia. Naturally, the Ancient Egyptians didn’t smoke, but er lesions of the lungs were widespread. These, however, are the sort that we associate today with workers in mines and quarries, and must be due in the case of the Egyptians, to living in sandy desert conditions. (Hm) Actually-on the smoking issue-there was a temporary sensation when traces of what appeared to be tobacco were found in Rameses, sarcophagus! But, er botanists later confirmed that it was not in fact tobacco itself, but a related plant which is native to Egypt. In the meantime, the cynics were commenting that it probably had come from the cigarette of some careless Egyptologist or museum attendant of the past!
Presenter: Hah, hah and what about their physical appearance?
Dr Simons: Well, very much what you would expect from seeing Egyptian art. They were light and slight in build. The average height for both men and women was about 1 metre 60-and er studies of the skeletons from which the covering of flesh can be extrapolated suggest that they weighed much less in relation to their height than most modern people-from about 10 to 15 kilograms less than someone of a similar height today is the estimate.
Presenter: And what about mummification?
Dr Simons: Ah well, the first thing to be said is that it wasn’t always done in the same way and it was by no means infallible, as many people tend to think. Many bodies, including that of the famous king Tukanhamun, were almost entirely destroyed by overuse of one or other of the substances generally employed. The basic procedure was much the same however-most of the internal organs, including the brain, were removed and preserved separately in a jar. The brain was got out through the nose (uh) using a sort of hook. Presenter: Oh dear!
Dr Simons: Yes. It used to be thought that the heart was always removed too, but in the case of Rameses it was found in place. The body was then immersed in a substance called natron-that’s a form of sodium carbonate-which occurred naturally in Egypt-for 40 to 70 days. It was then washed, made up and wrapped in linen bandages and placed in its coffin or sarcophagus. Then it was soaked in oils, resins and perfumes to help preserve it further.
Presenter: You said the body was made up. Do you mean its face was painted?
Dr Simons: Yes. Yes. Rameses was not only made up, they had to restructure his nose, which was damaged when they took out his brain (uh). The investigators found that it bad been stuffed with small animal bones-and er peppercorns of all things! His hair had been dyed too.
Presenter: You said that Rameses had suffered other adventures after his death?
Dr Simons: Ah, well, yes, poor chap. Well, for a start, he was found in a much later tomb than his real date, along with a lot of other Pharaohs and it looks very much as if the priests of later times had moved and rebuffed him to save him from the tomb robbers. His body was transported along with the other Pharaohs found in the same tomb, to the Cairo museum-that was in 1871-and it was put on display. Well naturally, removed from the dry desert atmosphere, his body started to deteriorate and by the 1970s was in a very poor state. That was part of the reason why the Egyptian authorities gave their consent for its temporary removal to Paris for the study-yet another upheaval! (Yes). The French experts aimed not only to carry out an investigation, but were also able to apply the latest techniques of restoration and conservation, so that at the end of the study Rameses was specially treated and then rewrapped in new bandages--well they weren’t exactly new since they were of ancient Egyptian date-given a "new" sarcophagus and carefully transported back to Cairo where he is now kept in a controlled environment which should slow down the deterioration process.
Presenters: So, as I said at the beginning, not only was science served, but a proper respect was paid to the remains in the end.
Dr Simons: Exactly.