By: Javette Walker

1. ORANGE MUMMY By: Javette Walker

2. Introduction Most people associate Ancient Egypt with the pharaohs, pyramids of Giza, and mummies. But what is the connection between these three things and what is a mummy? A mummy is a corpse whose skin and flesh have been preserved by chemicals or by exposure to the elements of weather. The ancient Egyptians believed that preserving the body was important because without the body, the previous owner's "ka," or life force, would always be hungry. It was important for a person's ka to survive so that he or she could enjoy the afterlife, or life after death.

3. Title: Orange Mummies Question: Can you make a mummy out of an orange? Hypotheses: I think that by using a desiccant like baking soda, you can dry out an orange enough to preserve it like a mummy.

4. What are mummies? Mummies are a body of a person or animal that have been preserved after death.

5. How are mummies made? It took a very long time, from start to finish, it took about 70 day to embalm a body. the priest in charge would wear the mask of a jackal representing the god Anubis. The body was washed and purified. Organs were removed. Only the heart remained. The body was dried by covering it with a substance called natron. This substance absorbed all the moisture from the body. After 40-50 days the stuffing was removed and replaced with linen or sawdust. The body was wrapped in strands of linen and covered in a sheet called a shroud. The body was placed in a stone coffin called sarcophagus.

6. Procedure 1)Weigh both oranges remember which is which! 2) Add about an inch of baking soda to one of the mayonnaise jars. Drop in one orange over the banking soda. Cover the orange with more baking soda, completely filling the jar 3)Place the second orange in the other empty jar. 4)Replace the lids on both jars and place them in a cool, dry place in the shade. 5) After seven days, examine and weigh both oranges. Record any changes in weight texture, or appearance.

7. Materials & Equipment • A kitchen scale • 2 Oranges • 2 large mayonnaise jars, cleaned and dried, with lids (make sure these are large enough to fit an apple) • Enough baking soda to fill one of the jars

8. Background Research Ancient Egyptians believed that dieing was to begin a new life in another world. This afterlife would be almost identical to life on earth so the spirit would need a body. To preserve the bodies of the dead, Egyptians perfected an embalming process called mummification. The most elaborate form of mummification required about seventy days to prepare and preserve the body. A mummy is a corpse whose skin and organs have been preserved by either intentional or incidental exposure by either intentional or incidental exposure to chemicals, extreme coldness, very high humidity, or lack of air when the bodies are submerged in bogs. The oldest mummified head was dated as 6,000 years old and was found 70 years ago. Mummies of humans and other animals have been found throughout the world, both as a result of natural preservation through unusual conditions, and as cultural artifacts to preserve the dead

9. Orange A.

10. Conclusion Orange B.

11. Conclusion My hypothesis was wrong. I thought that if I leave an orange in baking soda, in a cool dry spot it would dry out the it would dry out the orange and preserve it like a mummy. When I did my experiment and left it in the baking soda. My observation showed that one orange stayed the same, except for the weight texture. The other was very soft and a little rotted. It also was reduced of weight. The reason my hypothesis was wrong was because even though the orange had a chemically change, the baking soda did not dry the inside of the orange.