Sand in their bread caused serious tooth problems for the ancient Egyptians, peasants and pharaohs alike.Skull surgery was commonly performed by the Inca Indians of Peru. A thick soup made of grain and seeds was a typical winter meal in Denmark during the Iron Age. How can we be so sure of what ancient life was like? Largely because, in recent years, mummies have begun to "talk" to scientists who study them for clues to the distant past. X-rays reveal mumm ies that have never been unwrapped. The shape of the face appears, and resemblances may establish family relationships. In the bones of a mummy, medical scientists can read age at death, signs of disease, fractures that healed. Teeth yield information about diet and health. Sometimes a mummy offers a surprise: an Egyptian mummy is found to have two skulls; another, long thought to be the child of a high priestess, turns out to be a baboon. Sometimes a mummy tells a moving story: examination of a girl's mummy shows she lived her short life in considerable pain; a man's mummy, with broken bones and slit throat, proves he met a violent death.Generously illustrated with photographs ranging from the gruesome to the starkly beautiful, Tales Mummies Tell is a remarkable account of mummies -- intriguing talebearers from the pastand of the ways scientists unlock their secrets.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Patricia Lauber is the author of more than sixty-five books for young readers. Many of them are in the field of science, and their range reflects the diversity of her own interests-bats, dolphins, dogs, volcanoes, earthquakes, the ice ages, the Everglades, the planets, earthworms. Two of her books, SEEDS: POP STICK GLIDE and JOURNEY TO THE PLANETS, were nonfiction nominees for The American Book Awards. She was the 1983 winner of The Washington Post/Children's Book Guild Award for her overall contribution to children's nonfiction literature.
As well as writing books, Ms. Lauber has been editor of Junior Scholastic, editor-in-chief of Science World, and chief editor, science and mathematics, of The New Book of Knowledge
A graduate of Wellesley College, she is married and lives in Connecticut. When not writing, she enjoys hiking, sailing, traveling, cooking, reading, and listening to music.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Best Non-Fiction Book Ever,
By A Customer
This review is from: Tales Mummies Tell (Library Binding)
I found the book Tales Mummies Tell fascinating. This book is a mix of mystery and fact all in one! I recommend this book to people from years 11-adult because of the interesting,comprehendable information in it. I enjoyed this book because of my curiousity for it's subject. The book tells about preservation of mummies, the mummification proccess of mummies in Ancient Egypt, bodies found in bogs in Denmark, Ramesses III, and many more mindboggling facts. So if you are interested in this topic then I would suggest you read this book.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
WONDERFUL YOUTH BOOK OF INTRODUCTION TO A FASCINATING SUBJECT.,
This review is from: Tales Mummies Tell (Paperback)
What an informative, interesting and well done work this is! First though, please note that Amazon seems to have mixed their books up just a bit with this title. I note that when I typed in the title of the book I was taken to a work of only 32 pages which seems to be some sort of teachers guide to the actually book being reviewed here. The one I have is 117 pages and the text is supplemented with some very nice black and white photographs. If you order this book, take care that you are ordering the correct one. Now, that being said...
This book, while geared for the younger reader, i.e. the young adult, it is actually quite an interesting read for anyone interested in mummies, and let's face it, who isn't? Kids flock to books of this subject and I know many adults who have quite extensive libraries covering such matters. This work is quite appropriate for the adult reader who has a curiosity concerning the subject but does not want to get bogged down in an 800 page book on the history of Egypt. No, the information here is pretty basic but on the other hand I have seldom seen a youth reader that is packed with more accurate information that this little volume. The author has addressed the burial practices of several ancient civilizations with the emphasis placed on the mummification of the remains after death. Of course Egypt plays a prominent role in this work, but the author has also given us a fascinating look at ancient South American cultures, the Bog People of Europe and Native Americans of the Southwest. Ms. Lauber even addresses "shrunken heads; how they are made and why. Knowing a bit about this subject (the mummification process, not shrinking heads), I can attest to the fact that the author has done a wonderful job on her research and has accomplished an amazing task in separating fact from fiction and legend. The text of this work is very nicely done and is easy to read while at the same time not being one bit condescending toward her younger readers. Facts are given, accurate facts, in a nonacademic way which will be quite appealing to all who take the time to read it. The author has supplied a large number of quality black and white photographs of various mummies from around the world and from different eras and cultures. I was gratified that the emphasis was placed on scientific research and not on a bunch of tall tales usually associated with this subject. Great emphasis is places on the analysis of the data received through the study of these ancient bodies. How did the people live, what was their diet, how did they die, what methods were used to preserve the human body for thousands of years and why was this process done? I was also gratified that the author has taken several unflattering shots at grave robbers throughout history and amateur archeologists who have rather mucked things up for the past several hundred years. Tomb raiders are not on this author's popularity list...with no insult to Laura Croft, I am sure. For those young people who are into the study of ancient civilizations this work is a wonderful supplement to any reading or study program. I have to admit that I picked up some pretty nifty bits of trivia here and there and received a bit of an education myself. An interesting read and I do recommend this one highly. Don Blankenship The Ozarks
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Book,
This review is from: Tales Mummies Tell (Library Binding)
This book has information and pictures of some mummies that aren't in a lot of other books. Although some famous mummies like Otzi and Juanita aren't in here, other mummies that you might not find in most places are here. If you want to build your 'mummy repertoire,' you'lll find a few new ones here.
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