The mummy of ancient Chinese nobility Xin Zhui, also known as Lady Dai, has been kept so well for 2,200 years that she still has hair on her head and blood in her veins

In 163 BC, Xin Zhui died. Her skin was supple to the touch, her veins still contained type-A blood, and her hair was still in place when she was discovered in 1971.

 

Xin Zhui Mummy Under Glᴀss

The remaining parts of Xin Zhui.

Xin Zhui, also known as Lady Dai, is a mummified woman from China’s Han dynasty (206 BC-220 AD). She still has her own hair, is soft to the touch, and has ligaments that still bend like they did when she was alive. She is more than 2,000 years old. She is generally perceived as the best-saved human mummy ever.

Xin Zhui was found in 1971 while laborers digging almost an air attack cover close to Changsha essentially found her enormous burial place. More than 1,000 valuable objects were housed in her funnel-shaped crypt, including cosmetics, toiletries, hundreds of lacquerware pieces, and 162 carved wooden figures depicting her staff of servants. Even a meal was set out for Xin Zhui to eat in the afterlife.

Yet, while the mind boggling structure was noteworthy, keeping up with its respectability after almost a long time from the time it was constructed, Xin Zhui’s state of was truly dumbfounded scientists.

At the point when she was uncovered, she was uncovered to have kept up with the skin of a living individual, still delicate to the touch with dampness and flexibility. Her unique hair was viewed as set up, remembering that for her head and within her noses, as well as the eyebrows and lashes.

Researchers had the option to lead a post-mortem examination, during which they found that her kid body — she kicked the bucket in 163 BC — was in comparable condition to that of an as of late passed. individual.

However, as soon as the oxygen in the air came into contact with Xin Zhui’s body, her preserved corpse began to deteriorate. As a result, the images of Xin Zhui that we currently have do not accurately reflect the initial discovery.

 

Xin Zhui Recreation

Xin Zhui’s recreation.

In addition, they discovered that her veins still contained type-A blood and that all of her organs were in working order. These veins additionally showed clumps, uncovering her authority reason for death: cardiac arrest.

Xin Zhui also had gallstones, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and liver disease, among other conditions found in her body.

Pathologists even discovered 138 unabsorbed melon seeds in Lady Dai’s stomach and intestines while examining her. As such seeds commonly require one hour to process, it was probably the case that the melon was her last feast, eaten minutes before the coronary episode that killed her.

So how was this mummy preserved so well?

Analysts credit the airtight and elaborate burial chamber in which Woman Dai was covered. Xin Zhui was buried nearly 40 feet below the surface in the tiniest of four pine box coffins, each resting within the larger one (similar to Matryoshka, where the smallest doll is the ancient Chinese mummy’s body).

She was enclosed by twenty layers of silk texture, and her body was tracked down in 21 gallons of an “obscure fluid” that was tried to be marginally acidic and containing hints of magnesium.

The floor was covered in a thick layer of paste-like soil, and clay was used to cover the charcoal, which absorbs moisture, to keep oxygen and bacteria that cause decay out of her eternal chamber. The top was then fixed with three extra feet of dirt, keeping water from infiltrating the design.

 

Lady Dai Tomb Layout

Drawing of the entombment office of Xin Zhui.

We know everything about Xin Zhui’s funeral and burial, but very little about her life.

Lady Dai was the wife of Li Cang, the Marquis of Dai, a high-ranking Han official. She died at the young age of 50 due to her penchant for excess. It was believed that her lifetime of obesity, lack of exercise, and an extravagant and overindulgent diet contributed to the cardiac arrest that resulted in her death.

In any case, her body remains maybe the best-protected cadaver ever. Xin Zhui is currently housed in the Hunan Commonplace Historical center and is the fundamental possibility for their exploration in body protection

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