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Dd9 says that we are doing the chicken mummy all wrong


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She is appalled that I am planning to go down to the grocery store to get a medium fryer. She wants to get a fresh killed chicken - one that still has it's feathers and organs intact so that we can do this authentically. I think this could get very complicated if I gave in to her demands. . . :D (She also thinks that we should send our mummy to Roughcollie - shh. . . don't tell her!)

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We bought our chickens at the grocery store.

 

Buy one there, and tell your DD she is lucky she isn't stuck with mummifying an apple. http://www.newtonsapple.tv/TeacherGuide.php?id=1422

 

Tell her that the Egyptians did not have feathers, and you want this to be as authentic as possible. Although it would be interesting to unwrap it when it is done to see if the feathers fell off when the body shrank.

 

Be firm. Let me know what happens!

Edited by RoughCollie
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Tell her that the Egyptians did not have feathers, and you want this to be as authentic as possible. Although it would be interesting to unwrap it when it is done to see if the feathers fell off when the body shrank.

 

 

 

Egyptian chickens did not have feathers?! They mummified their cats. I'm sure someone, somewhere had a pet chicken.

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Egyptian chickens did not have feathers?! They mummified their cats. I'm sure someone, somewhere had a pet chicken.

 

Fine. I'm hopping onto your daughter's side. Get a freshly killed chicken, and be sure the head comes with it.

 

Egyptians had heads, too.

 

Perhaps you can call before you go and specify the method of slaughter so the head is still attached. That is easier than having to sew it back on.

 

Don't forget to close the chicken's eyes. No need to place pennies on the eyelids.

 

You'll need a canopic jar for each organ. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canopic_jar We skipped that part, but then again, we cheated by getting a chicken from the supermarket. I really admire your DD's plan to be authentic.

 

Removing the brain through the nostrils will be tricky. I know you plan to closely supervise this endeavor. Please ask your DS to take pictures. I need a picture of you helping with this. Try not to break the chicken.

 

I don't remember -- were the intestines mummified, too? They must have been, otherwise digesting the food provided for the afterlife would have been difficult. You don't want to end up with an exploding chicken mummy. Yes, I think I'd like a picture of you helping with that, too.

 

If you get some chicken feed and straw, perhaps your DD can make a pyramid from sugar cubes, and store the mummy in there, along with the materials it will need in the afterlife. If you don't know what a chicken nest looks like, I suggest you take a look while you are at the chicken killer's house.

 

You could modernize it and just let her build a birdhouse.

 

Go here http://books.google.com/books?id=VMSF7m2CFTEC&pg=PA13&lpg=PA13&dq=chickens+in+ancient+egypt&source=bl&ots=9dKNL2sgiD&sig=NwMbH6ExOnTgWCpdqDb3YXv2LUg&hl=en&ei=sNGzTsLvBKnW0QGl4pHWBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=chickens%20in%20ancient%20egypt&f=false and scroll down to figure 1.1 (right side). Maybe your DD would like to paint this on the pyramid/birdhouse. It's a rooster, and it will probably make the chicken happy in the same way that actor (Johnny Depp?) makes Nakia happy.

 

Better crate the dogs while you are doing this; they might get hungry. Too much salt isn't good for them.

 

Look on the bright side. I had to supervise the mummification of three chickens at the same time. We had a mummy assembly line at our house. You're only helping with one. (Why not four? DD was in PS at the time.)

 

Be sure to pack all this stuff carefully. I don't want to receive a bunch of broken canopic jars. I've already cleared a large space on my mantel for this. I'll wait until the package has been mailed before I strew some sand on it.

 

Did I tell you that the other day, as I was driving home, I had to stop for a chicken who was standing in the middle of the road? I didn't want to honk and scare it to death, so I waited until it finally moved. I told DS3, who was with me, that the operative question in life is why didn't the chicken cross the road.

 

That's it. My full supply of experience with chickens, and as a chicken mummifier, has been given to you. I hope you appreciate my gift of wisdom. Helpful hint: You ought to put this on your thankfulness list for today: I, Jean in Newcastle, am thankful that my dear friend RC has so cheerfully and willingly shared her immense store of knowledge with me today.

Edited by RoughCollie
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Fine. I'm hopping onto your daughter's side. Get a freshly killed chicken, and be sure to ask for the head.

 

Egyptians had heads, too.

 

:svengo:

 

She's really passionate about mummies. She was supposed to write one paragraph on them. She's written one page already and is not done. Maybe she'll be an Egyptologist when she grows up.

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Ummmm, you would have to pluck it.... I mean, I'm not sure what would occurr with the feathers when the body started to dessicate if you didn't.... But you could get a fryer with its internal organs, I guess, if you wanted to try to dry those out and put them in canopic jars - there wouldn't be any intestines, but you really don't want to mess with those, anyway....

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Okay, y'all missed the important part of the OP.

 

What is it with 9-year-olds that think everything their mother does is wrong?! Mine asked me the other day if he could start reading all of the road signs to me, "to improve your driving, Mom." :glare: Yeah. Like having a know-it-all-9-year-old as a back seat driver is going to help me?!

 

Jean, Be firm. Go with the supermarket fryer. Insist Mother knows best. :lol:

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Okay, y'all missed the important part of the OP.

 

What is it with 9-year-olds that think everything their mother does is wrong?! Mine asked me the other day if he could start reading all of the road signs to me, "to improve your driving, Mom." :glare: Yeah. Like having a know-it-all-9-year-old as a back seat driver is going to help me?!

 

Jean, Be firm. Go with the supermarket fryer. Insist Mother knows best. :lol:

 

Yes, I shudder for when she is a teenager. I think my I.Q. will be in the minus digits (in her eyes) by then!

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Ummmm, you would have to pluck it.... I mean, I'm not sure what would occurr with the feathers when the body started to dessicate if you didn't.... But you could get a fryer with its internal organs, I guess, if you wanted to try to dry those out and put them in canopic jars - there wouldn't be any intestines, but you really don't want to mess with those, anyway....

 

That's right! They have a gizzard, right? See. . . RoughCollie doesn't know as much as she thinks!

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We're currently doing the hot dog mummy. It is horrific (the smell). I can only imagine what the chicken would be like. LOL

 

Sidenote: We dissected rats on Monday. The boys begged for us to mummify those. I had to say no. There are only so many spots in our house that I can dedicate to the mummification process. :p

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We're currently doing the hot dog mummy. It is horrific (the smell). I can only imagine what the chicken would be like. LOL

 

Sidenote: We dissected rats on Monday. The boys begged for us to mummify those. I had to say no. There are only so many spots in our house that I can dedicate to the mummification process. :p

 

Rats? As in vermin? :001_huh::svengo::svengo::svengo: Yes, I'd definitely choose a hotdog over that!

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Okay, y'all missed the important part of the OP.

 

What is it with 9-year-olds that think everything their mother does is wrong?! Mine asked me the other day if he could start reading all of the road signs to me, "to improve your driving, Mom." :glare: Yeah. Like having a know-it-all-9-year-old as a back seat driver is going to help me?!

 

Jean, Be firm. Go with the supermarket fryer. Insist Mother knows best. :lol:

 

:lol: My dd7 already does this. I shudder to think what effect more years will have on her attitude.

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That's right! They have a gizzard, right? See. . . RoughCollie doesn't know as much as she thinks!

 

Oh yes, I do! Only a few organs are present in a supermarket chicken. Plus, no head. How's the chicken supposed to be able to think in the afterlife, if it doesn't have a head? It will be running around like ... a chicken with it's head cut off!

Edited by RoughCollie
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What is it with 9-year-olds that think everything their mother does is wrong?! Mine asked me the other day if he could start reading all of the road signs to me, "to improve your driving, Mom."

 

This is hilarious.:D

 

Jean, Be firm. Go with the supermarket fryer. Insist Mother knows best.

 

No, no, Jean!!!! You'll hurt your DD's self esteem and deprive me of seeing (figuratively speaking) an Extremely Dedicated Homeschooler in action. After this, I'll Respect you with a capital R (it will arrive in the mail). You are making memories! You are encouraging your DD to think outside the box! She might become an Egyptologist someday! This is nothing compared to dissecting a rat (shudder).

Edited by RoughCollie
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Yeah. And it was just a day after he told me that I needed to clean house more often because we had cobwebs. :tongue_smilie:

Kid is lucky he still has a roof over his head, right? :lol:

 

I tell my kids how lucky they are all the time. DD is okay, but the boys know Everything and I know Nothing, except when they are hungry or have run out of clean clothes.

 

Unfortunately, I had to disagree with your advice about the supermarket chicken.

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