A 1,700-year-old Egyptian mummy found with an intact brain, but no heart has a plaque on her abdomen that may have been intended to ritually heal her, scientists say.
The mummy belongs to a woman who died between age 30 and 50, researchers said after examining the body with CT scans.
Like many Egyptians, she had terrible dental problems and had lost many of her teeth.
To remove her organs, the embalmers created a hole through her perineum and removed her intestines, stomach, liver and even her heart, researchers said.
Spices and lichen were spread over her head and abdomen, and she was wrapped and presumably put in a coffin; her final resting place was likely near Luxor.
The embalmers also filled the hole in the perineum with linen and resin.
They also put two thin plaques similar to cartonnage (a plastered material) on her skin above her sternum and abdomen, something that may have been intended to ritually heal the damage the embalmers had done and act as a replacement, of sorts, for her removed heart, 'LiveScience' reported.
The mummy and its coffin - now at the Redpath Museum at McGill University in Montreal - were purchased at Luxor in the 19th century.
Researchers do not know what ancient Egyptians did with the hearts that were removed.
"We don't really know what's happening to the hearts that are removed," said Andrew Wade, a professor at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada.
During some time periods, the hearts may have been put in canopic jars, a type of jar used to hold internal organs, though tissue analysis is needed to confirm this idea, Wade said.
