2,000-Year-Old Mummy Found In Remarkable Condition With Internal Organs Intact

When you hear the word “mummy,” you usually envision a shriveled-up, unrecognisable body. However, one mummified corpse that has been maintained for nearly 2,000 years is astonishingly well-preserved. Here’s what we all know.

Dennis Cox/Alamy Stock Photo

The Lady of Dai, also known as Xin Zhui, died between 178 and 145 BC, but pathologists couldn’t believe how well-preserved she was when her tomb was accidently discovered in 1971.

The things buried with the Lady of Dai demonstrated that she was a wealthy and powerful woman while she was alive. She also appears to have had the best mummifiers at hand, as her skin is still moist and her eyelashes are still attached, and she still had blood in her veins.

Experts discovered over 100 undigested melon seeds inside her body

The mummy’s organs were still intact, right down to the paper-thin lung nerves. Experts discovered over 100 undigested melon seeds inside her oesophagus, stomach, and intestines while studying her body.

Sailingstone Travel / Alamy Stock Photo

It was discovered that she had consumed melon only an hour before her death. So, how did the Lady of Dai survive so well? Part of it is simply due to her affluence, since her body was discovered swaddled in 18 layers of silk and linen garments.

Her casket was also filled with an odd clear liquid that became brown when exposed to oxygen.

While some speculate that these were merely her biological fluids, others believe it was a traditional herbal treatment that assisted in the preservation of the body. Despite her wealth, pathologists were able to identify that the Lady of Dai was in poor health when she died.

The Chinese noblewoman died of a heart attack immediately after digging into the melon, according to the blood clots that were still resting in her veins. She was estimated to be around 50 years old when she died, which was a pretty good lifetime back then. What do you think about this? Tell us in the comments.