Meningeal preservation in a child mummy from Ancient Egypt

Abstract Over many centuries, the ancient Egyptians developed a method of preserving bodies so they would remain lifelike. Mummification of bodies was originally a natural process in Egypt, which evolved to a sophisticated embalming system to preserve the individual for the afterlife. Afterwards, mummification continued to be practiced in Egypt for some three thousand years, lasting until the end of the Christian era In the Coptic necropolis of Qarara (Middle Egypt) a total of 17 mummified individuals were studied during the 2012 campaign. One of them was a 6 to 8 old-year male child, which damaged skull allowed us to see the meningeal structures covering the entire cranial vault, in absence of brain remains. This finding in a child mummy is very exceptional, as reflected in the specialized literature.