Secrets of the Mummies : Uncovering the Bodies of Ancient Egyptians

by Shelley Tanaka

Imagine breaking into an ancient tomb, marked with the seal of an Egyptian king who died three thousand years ago. A treasure trove of precious artifacts lies waiting in the dark — but we now realize that even more valuable is the mummy inside. Shelley Tanaka takes us back in time to the lives of the people whose bodies were preserved as mummies. Why were the bodies so carefully preserved? What can we learn about life thousands of years ago from the mummified bodies? How can knowledge about ancient peoples help us to better understand ourselves? From the rituals for preserving human bodies to the most up-to-date technology used to study the mummies, this fascinating book provides intriguing details and a personal look at the lives
of the people whose remains have survived the millennia. For anyone who has ever shivered at stories of the mummy's curse, or been dazzled by stories of great cultures of long ago, this book is as essential as it is enlightening.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Ancient, Egypt

48 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1999

Reviews

[Maribel Castro · Rating 4 out of 5]

I snagged this book from a little free library. It’s geared for children but nonetheless, a fascinating read! The details of the mummification process from our ancient Egyptians was so well written, even for a children’s book. I highly recommend to anyone who wants to get back into reading the Egyptian mummification stories we once read in grade school!

[Sara Hannon]

1. Informational

2. The Secrets of the Mummies tells all about how mummies are made, where the name came from, and a little bit about several famous mummies. It focuses mainly on Egyptian mummies and their participation in history and how we can learn about ancient people from them.

3. The best thing about this book is the use of illustrations and "asides". This little "asides" or areas of the page marked by being a different color and with a border are some of the most fascinating pages in the book. While the main part of the book is giving you information on one of the most famous mummies: that of Ramses II (Ramses The Great), the "aside" is telling you that Ramses's profile is still intact because someone shoved a small bone up his nose to keep it from collapsing and there is a picture of the x-ray (pg. 18). This is nice because it is kind of an application of what you just read, or a "how did they do that?" section. The flow of the text isn't disturbed and the interesting factoids are highlighted and accompanied by plenty of pictures that would otherwise not be applicable to the story. This colored demarkation is also used to tell stories of the real people who lived and are now mummies so that not only do you understand that Ramses II is an important mummy, you understand why. You understand why King Tut's death is such a mystery, you learn more about Nakht, not just that he's a weaver, but about his life and his family. It is like a book version of pop-up video, only more informative.

4. This is a great book to help students learn about mummification, as the book goes through the whole process. It is also a great book to use when teaching about ancient egypt. The egyptian culture was heavily influenced by the afterlife so learning about their death rituals and why they did what they did is a great way to learn about who they were.

[Nikki · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a little text-heavy for me when I was younger, but other children more eager about Egyptian history might not mind; now having reread it, the text is pretty simple/easy to read. The pictures and artwork are beautiful.

[Isaiah Cutts · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a review of Secrets of the Mummies by Shelley Tanaka

There comes a time in the life of every child when they first hear about mummies whether it is in a history book, or a movie, or a fiction story, and it awakens a curiosity that begs for more information. Shelly Tanaka and Greg Ruhl’s work in covering the story the mummies tell us in examining four ancient Egyptians, from the most powerful of society, the pharaohs to the trades people who worked in their kingdoms. As a child this book helped supply answers to questions I had and the authors did more than their due diligence in providing as many details as possible that could fit into a small book that would be as welcoming to a child even if they couldn’t read every word just yet.

This book rises to the level that an adult would welcome in content and beautifully woven in photography and illustrations which support it. The cover is reminiscent of stylistic old movie posters that grab your attention from the start, and as you turn each page, you will be captivated not only in how it is written but also how it is revealed in full page arrangements of paintings and photos. It begins with the turn of the century fascination that developed from the archaeological discoveries of that time, with a room full of Victorian dressed guests hovering over a long wooden box holding a mummy. It covers this time of “The Mummy Hunters” and begins to detail why mummification was used as a way to preserve the dead and why it was important to many cultures. It explains decomposing and the methods needed to counter it. It discusses the burial rituals and beliefs of the ancient Egyptians, the process from start to finish, maybe with more details than anyone a bit squeamish might appreciate.

This is a book that could be utilized in the classroom as the core for a unit study of Egyptian life It fills in history and culture and science of these people and also the people that searched for the treasures of knowledge in the artifacts and mummies that were buried and preserved. It would be a great resource in inspiring the rising interests of future historians, archeologists, scientists, and doctors budding in a young child. It is a book that will take a young child more than a few hours to read and it is a book they will want to come back to finish. It would be a great book to have on the classroom bookshelf for research and book reports.

[Kaitlin Harrington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative and neat book. Really enjoyed it

[Geo Hendrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I went to Egypt, so I'm always eager to read more books about Egypt. It also gives some history about the mummies.

[Cognatious Thunk · Rating 4 out of 5]

My eldest summed this book up by informing me that, "Mummies are gross, Mom." However, the very next day she pulled the book back out and started reading it to herself. I teased her by reminding her that, "I thought mummies were gross." She responded, "They are, but the book is pretty cool."

[Mloy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another one of my impulse buys, but this little venture isn't as risky as most because whenever the subject of the book pertains to Egypt or Mummies, it's a sure bet that it'll be an interesting, if not educational read. Just like the other Egyptology books I have, this one is also chock full of information about the mummy-making process, but the unique feature of this book is that it not only features images and stories of the more famous mummies, like King Tutankhamen or the great Pharaoh Ramses II, the book also has stories of lesser known Mummies, Nakht (a weaver) and Djed (a court musician. There were also snippets of other mummies, from different parts of the world-- one example was a beautifully preserved mummy of a Danish man who was murdered and thrown into a bog, but unbeknownst to his murderer(s), the lack of oxygen in the bog preserved their crime (which unfortunately was discovered 2000 years too late), along with the body of their victim. Overall, this was a pretty cool book and mummies are always a fascinating subject because there is always something new to learn from mummies.

[Taya · Rating 4 out of 5]

The visual appeal that this book had was very intriguing. Each page was broken up and organized a different way. This is extremely important for children's nonfiction books because if they are made too monotonous, the interest level will not be there. The pages had backgrounds of a mixture of gold and white, colorful borders, a variety of pictures,and diagrams. The information was also broken up with interesting facts and fictionalized stories about a day in the life of different Egyptians based on the research done about them. I found this to be a great way to inspire students about the joys of discovery in archaeology.

[Jaylen Howard · Rating 2 out of 5]

I is about mummies. it tells about how did they wrap them up. I relly like this book. It is alot of history in it. That is my review on this book.