X-Message-Number: 29684
From: "Basie" <>
Subject: Korean mummies
Date: Sat, 28 Jul 2007 13:47:50 -0400

Korean mummies?

Until recently, no one even knew that mummies existed in Korea. Korea's 
ancient tradition of ancestor worship and the belief that at death, the soul 
rises up and the body has to go back to its natural components, without 
interference by external elements, meant that mummification was in fact 
anathema in Korean culture. However, with the take-over of the 
neo-Confucianist Joseon Dynasty in 1392, changes were made to the former 
Buddhist burial practices.

The burial process involved laying the body on ice for three to thirty days 
during mourning, placing the body inside an inner and an outer pine coffin, 
surrounded by the deceased's clothes, and the covering he coffin in a lime 
soil mixture. "In some cases, this inadvertently resulted in extremely good 
natural mummification," says Spigelman.

The building boom in South Korea has meant that many cemeteries have had to 
be relocated. It is this process which led to the discovery of the mummified 
bodies.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070725093556.htm

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