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Created page with 'File:lighterstill.jpgright|frame ==Origin== [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._1100-1500_.09THE_MIDDLE_ENGLISH_PERIOD Middle E...'
[[File:lighterstill.jpg]][[File:Embalming.jpg|right|frame]]
==Origin==
[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._1100-1500_.09THE_MIDDLE_ENGLISH_PERIOD Middle English] embaumen, from Anglo-French enbaumer, enbasmer, from en- + basme balm
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/14th_century 14th Century]
==Definitions==
*1: to treat (a [[dead]] [[body]]) so as to protect from decay
*2: to fill with sweet [[odors]] : perfume
*3: to protect from decay or [[oblivion]] : preserve <embalm a [[hero]]'s [[memory]]>
*4: to fix in a [[static]] condition
==Description==
'''Embalming''', in most [[modern]] [[cultures]], is the art and [[science]] of temporarily preserving human remains to forestall decomposition and to make them suitable for [[public]] display at a [[funeral]]. The three goals of embalming are thus [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disinfection sanitization], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presentation presentation] and preservation (or restoration) of a corpse to achieve this effect. Embalming has a very long and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-cultural cross-cultural] [[history]], with many [[cultures]] giving the embalming [[processes]] a greater [[religious]] [[meaning]].
==History==
Embalming has been [[practiced]] in many [[cultures]]. In [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_antiquity classical antiquity], perhaps the ancient culture that had [[developed]] embalming to the greatest extent was that of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egypt ancient Egypt], which [[developed]] the [[process]] of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mummification mummification]. They [[believed]] that preservation of the mummy empowered the [[soul]] after [[death]], which would return to the preserved corpse. Other cultures that had developed embalming processes include the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inca Incas] and other cultures of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peru Peru], whose climate also favoured a form of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mummification mummification].
However some of the best preserved bodies in the world are from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_dynasty Han dynasty] China. It was [[thought]] that a special liquid in which the [[bodies]] were embedded (solutions containing mercury and antimony salts amongst others), may have been of a certain [[influence]]. The [[actual]] [[cause]] of the preservation—which started declining rapidly once the bodies were unearthed—was the very exceptional low temperature conditions obtained at the depths at which the [[tombs]] were located, under several layers of charcoal and clay, permitting [[ideal]] temperatures and humidity levels which were [[maintained]] throughout the [[seasons]] for centuries .
These mummies are nowadays stored in special refrigerated chambers which simulate the original conditions in which they were discovered to prevent further acceleration of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Putrefaction putrefaction] .[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embalm]
[[Category: Anthropology]]
==Origin==
[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=English#ca._1100-1500_.09THE_MIDDLE_ENGLISH_PERIOD Middle English] embaumen, from Anglo-French enbaumer, enbasmer, from en- + basme balm
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/14th_century 14th Century]
==Definitions==
*1: to treat (a [[dead]] [[body]]) so as to protect from decay
*2: to fill with sweet [[odors]] : perfume
*3: to protect from decay or [[oblivion]] : preserve <embalm a [[hero]]'s [[memory]]>
*4: to fix in a [[static]] condition
==Description==
'''Embalming''', in most [[modern]] [[cultures]], is the art and [[science]] of temporarily preserving human remains to forestall decomposition and to make them suitable for [[public]] display at a [[funeral]]. The three goals of embalming are thus [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disinfection sanitization], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presentation presentation] and preservation (or restoration) of a corpse to achieve this effect. Embalming has a very long and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-cultural cross-cultural] [[history]], with many [[cultures]] giving the embalming [[processes]] a greater [[religious]] [[meaning]].
==History==
Embalming has been [[practiced]] in many [[cultures]]. In [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_antiquity classical antiquity], perhaps the ancient culture that had [[developed]] embalming to the greatest extent was that of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egypt ancient Egypt], which [[developed]] the [[process]] of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mummification mummification]. They [[believed]] that preservation of the mummy empowered the [[soul]] after [[death]], which would return to the preserved corpse. Other cultures that had developed embalming processes include the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inca Incas] and other cultures of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peru Peru], whose climate also favoured a form of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mummification mummification].
However some of the best preserved bodies in the world are from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_dynasty Han dynasty] China. It was [[thought]] that a special liquid in which the [[bodies]] were embedded (solutions containing mercury and antimony salts amongst others), may have been of a certain [[influence]]. The [[actual]] [[cause]] of the preservation—which started declining rapidly once the bodies were unearthed—was the very exceptional low temperature conditions obtained at the depths at which the [[tombs]] were located, under several layers of charcoal and clay, permitting [[ideal]] temperatures and humidity levels which were [[maintained]] throughout the [[seasons]] for centuries .
These mummies are nowadays stored in special refrigerated chambers which simulate the original conditions in which they were discovered to prevent further acceleration of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Putrefaction putrefaction] .[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embalm]
[[Category: Anthropology]]