Rest In Peace or Not?

Im not sure if this is the right place for this thread, if not please feel free to move it. Im just really curious and would like to know what everyone else thinks on this subject. It concerns mummies and maybe further, the exhumation or disturbance of a grave or final resting place of a human. I do understand , even though do not totally accept the exhumation of a body for forensics in a suspicious death, but what about mummies that have been undisturbed in their resting place for thousands of years.

I know that science wants to know how people lived. what caused their death and what else can we learn from these mummies that have lain for centuries, undisturbed, but is it right, should we be exhuming these bodies in the name of science or better knowledge and learning? I myself find it interesting just watching the shows of these explorations, but I still harbor a feeling that it is not right and that these people should be left to their final resting places. I know that I would not want someone digging me up years after my death just for the sake of science. Just curious as to everyones thoughts on this subject.

i agree with you, their is something kind of sacred about death and not that science has perverted our morals or anything, it just seems that to take what seems to be a inate right to remain undisturbed after death and destory it. It also could kind of disturbs the sacred nature, of the ordeal or meaning of death which may be bad or good depending on how you view the topic.

It is tricky, what one may call archaeology another may call graverobbing. However in some cases it in truth grants what the interred was after in the first place - immortality. Look at Tutankhamun, a relatively minor pharoh who is now arguably more famous than Ramses the Great himself. I guess it really comes down to the motivation behind the actions, and the level of respect shown the deceased and his/her possesions.

And what about curses? I for one dont beleive in them but didnt the guy that found king Tut's tomb supposedly die of a curse or something?

As for the curses, I too dont really put much emphasis on them. I saw a show a while back that sort of tried to clear up the deaths attributed to curses, if I remember it had something to do with mold or bacteria growing in the closed up tombs, which actually caused disease and eventually the deaths. Sort of makes sense, much more than a curse, but havent really reseached it to see what its about.

yeah that does clear up any curses of the tomb deaths, and does make perfect sense, so thanks for bringing that to my attention, tracer.

I don't believe or disbelieve in curses. But I lean towards believing.

Have a look at thisl

www.kingtutone.com...

I guess that the curses supposedly do lend an air of mystery and suspense to entering the tombs or pyramids of Egypt, and thats probabaly a good thing for tourism and such.

But actually Im more interested in peoples views on the exhuming and disturbing of these long buried mummies, whether they be royalty or not. Thats the reason for the title of the thread, do we have the right or any business in disturbing these people who have long since passed on.

Regarding the proper respect to mummies and all, I think that today we do a pretty good job. In the past, mummies have been used for firewood, and ground up mummies - a powder called, I believe, Mummia - was not so long ago used pretty much throughout Europe as some sort of a cure-all. Time-lapse cannibalism!

Harte

In my experience every archeologist has treated every burial site excavation with the highest respect and care.

The sites could be thousands of years old and of a long dead religion and culture, but the remains are still treated with honor. There is no loud radio playing, no joking around, like you often see at other sites. It's as if the participants are saying to the gravesites "Yes, I am disinterring you, but it's because you have much to teach us."

I agree with the above.


We have alot to learn from those that lived thousands of years ago, and if dome with respect, and dignity it is fine - Its when amatures dig that troubles erupt.


Dig and learn is fine, as long as its not last weeks fresh dead thats being dug up.

I'm going to the other end of the spectrum and say we're treating the dead with too much respect.

Bodies shouldn't be mummified, buried, or whatever silly rituals humans have come up with concerning a person's death.

Harvest the organs, then toss the carcass out in the woods for the scavengers. Or bury it without clothes, coffins, etc so that it'll fertilize the soil.

Anything else is just a waste of good resources.

Originally posted by tracer
Just curious as to everyones thoughts on this subject.

When you're dead, you're dead. Whatever little combination of electricity and chemicals that made your body into yourself is gone. The little pieces left over don't have any magic or intelligence associated with them. So I wouldn't worry a lot about it.

Proof? People have done just about every conceivable thing to dead bodies, from burning them, to burying them in dirt, grinding them up, to sinking them into water, to stacking bones and skulls up to make houses, and then some. If there was any magic associated with remains, after all this experimentation, we certainly would have seen some very strong evidence of it by now.

This is a tricky suject. I doubt most of us would want the remains of people important to us, or even ourselves, to be dug up, proded, poked, measured, and even arranged into silly stances in museums for others to gawk at.

It goes beyond ancient remains too. Sometimes realtively modern remains get dug up for study.

If the body is put back, it's fine, like Tut, they studied his body, then sealed it back into his tomb.

If I'm not mistaken, in the British Museum, there are boxes full of bones in a storeroom. That to me, is not right.

Originally posted by Nygdan
This is a tricky suject. I doubt most of us would want the remains of people important to us, or even ourselves, to be dug up, proded, poked, measured, and even arranged into silly stances in museums for others to gawk at.

I actually want something like this done with my body when I croak.

I want to be left out to half decay, then dipped in plastic to preserve what's left. After that, I want to be wired with animatronics, and used in horror flics as a rotting zombie.