Mummy Brains

Mummies: Images of the Afterlife will begin touring in September, 2015. Stay tuned to see them visiting a museum near you! bit.ly/1zPgGs0
Major thanks to JP Brown and the staff of the Regenstein Pacific Lab for allowing us to document the beginnings of their conservation work.
Here are some more posts about JP Brown, mummies, and his amazingly creative lab: bit.ly/17gIqzA
Come hang out in our Subreddit: / thebrainscoop
Twitters: @ehmee
Facebook: / thebrainscoop
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Producer, Writer, Creator, Host:
Emily Graslie
Producer, Editor, Camera:
Tom McNamara
Theme music:
Michael Aranda
Created By:
Hank Green
Production Assistant:
Katie Kirby
Filmed on Location and Supported by:
The Field Museum in Chicago, IL
(www.fieldmuseum.org)
Our transcribers and translators Caitrin McCullough, Martina Šafusová, and Tony Chu can eat away at our brains any day! Not actually though. 'Cuz... then they'd be, you know, zombies.

[@Crystalvampire66]

"Eew. Can I hold it?" that's how you identify a biologist. If they say that sentence, they are a biologist or bound to be one someday

[@oak1739]

Remove the "Eew" part and you're right.

[@maumau5322]

Or a psychopath too..

[@endme2906]

Mau O A psycho would say “Cute. Can I hold it?” Not ew lmao

[@pnjodaro]

True.

[@benaiah712]

Me holding a frog in dissection area: ewww

[@sharonkim9192]

I love how she's trying so hard to be funny but the guy isn't having it.

[@TheArrogantMonk]

I just scrolled through trying to find a comment like this just so I could give it a thumbs up lmao

[@sharonkim9192]

Patrick Blackmore Aw thanks, lmao.

[@snapshotshawna1548]

Story of my life. 😀

[@lavenderblossomish9341]

Sharon Kim agreed100%...

[@oak1739]

Shes an accurate representation of the average American. Clearly doesn't really give a shit because it didn't happen in America.

[@mephostopheles3752]

Wow, they did a LITERAL brainscoop.

[@adonaiyah2196]

I hope this doesn't count for as grave robbery

[@ryPish]

It still has brains in it!!!!

[@trisymphony]

....oh wait.

[@soap7032]

No they get sucked out by the nose :)

[@desakputurakaparamita954]

it'll be interesting if they checkout their genetic matters...

[@ankitasrivastava3966]

It looked like oats tbh

[@buy.almond3358]

When does it turn from grave robbing to archeology?

[@antelopechariotte853]

Hmmm well that in itself is a rather Western view of things. If no one is here to care about them then their wishes their no longer matter.

[@h2oteen]

Really? 50 years.

[@janierose4786]

When there are no longer people around to have an emotional connection. 100 years with no culture or family to care? Archeology. 10,000 years, but still has a culture who feel strongly about the body and have an actual cultural or biological claim? Grave robbing. Obviously those are the two extremes, but it's still a pretty good baseline.

[@ieatplastic1756]

An extinct civilization. We need to learn more about our past and the worlds.

[@beomgyv5092]

@@ieatplastic1756 I Eat Plastic too.!

[@xxAlchemistressxx]

Emily, you just held the leftovers of what once were the thoughts and intelligence of a living person! Kinda makes you wish there was technology available that would let you see how intelligent a person was when he/she was alive, or what she/he thought. Very awesome and interesting video :D

[@Unknowingly_unknown.]

Elvira that be awesome.

[@destinywolf7768]

Lmao imagine just getting someone as dumb as a rock

[@christiaanprinsloo8951]

@@destinywolf7768 to be honest they were inbred as fuck so they were probably pretty stupid

[@user-sp5kc5yx8s]

@@christiaanprinsloo8951 i’d have to disagree. look at how they built and their math skills

[@christiaanprinsloo8951]

@@user-sp5kc5yx8s The egyptians themselves weren't stupid, they were actually one of the most advanced societies for their time, but their downfall was when they started inbreeding their leaders, leading to an intelligent society ruled by literal idiots. Also seems to be the path our society is taking today

[@aryanrao1478]

"these are the oldest brains i have held"WHAT?

[@user-lk2ch4ly5i]

dat profile pic i know that tokyo ghoul re doujinshi

[@laceypeake4200]

アリャン ラオ I was like... "Wait... That means she has held other brains!"

[@AshesAshes44]

Sure. I mean, I've held brains of animals I dissected and even helped cook some. No *human* brains though. And I'm sticking to that story...

[@wellspokenrambler]

this show is called the brain scoop. scooping brains is kind of her deal

[@Melthornal]

When I die, I want a full ecosystem in my brain.

[@AssClappicus]

i suspect many people already do have

[@scifirocks]

T Zman nope, your insides are totally aseptic, bacteria getting inside you are what cause meningitis/ septicaemia etc. your digestive cavity and other orifices are full of microbes, but are counted as being outside your body as they run straight through you end to end

[@Edited6]

scifirocks Wait the microbes in like our gut flora? They run straight through? I thought that was kinda a long-term symbiosis of sorts.

[@scifirocks]

No, I meant that your digestive system goes straight through you. It's like a really long tube from your mouth to your anus all bundled up inside you so it classed differently to parts of your body that have no connections to the outside e.g. abdominal cavity. The microbes in your gut are indeed permanent residents :)

[@gingersnaps180]

"it's a bug-eat-bug world in the brain of a mummy." I want that on a tshirt.

[@rsmania01]

same

[@carlosapiang8256]

Can someone make a t-shirt that says: "It's a bug eat bug world inside the cranium of a mummy!" I would spend good money on that!!

[@yoshi4721]

Noice. Not the first to say it though

[@Hossain-Creations]

I can do it for you.

[@rainp98]

“mummy brains” 691k people “hmm sounds cool”

[@slicersxadair5426]

I'm watching cause I'm scared I'mma fail this class

[@chrysanthemum5594]

It's indeed cool, how Egyptians where so advanced. Incredibly fascinating!

[@whatareallofthis]

I would love to see another video about the mummy's body talking about what showed up on scans. What kinds of injuries the body had, how it likely died, things like that.

[@uvalde12]

whatareallofthis a new episode of “Egypt’s Unexplained Files” called “Secrets of the Scorpion King” (S1 E2) does this with King Tutankhamun’s mummified body. Through scans and xrays and other tools, they were trying to find out how the young 19 year old King died. Very interesting episode really

[@Booly_987]

"You don't bury yourself right?" Me: Is that a challenge?

[@10ticxls52]

Hello kpop stan-

[@robbicu]

Emily, I'm going to give you a pass on this. I just came from your discussion with Caitlin, and, considering your intended audience, a feel you did well enough with being respectful towards the remains, all things considered. The Supreme Council of Antiquities considered the Field Museum qualified enough to handle the remains, and I concur. Your light-hearted attempts at humor can certainly engage a younger audience, and if that challenges even one to go on to study human anthropology, then it was well worth it! Good job!

[@coahomma6794]

@@tdmj2812 You and your multiple personalities don't qualify

[@coahomma6794]

@@tdmj2812 Maybe YOUR best suited for McDonald's

[@tdmj2812]

Coahomma ! Maybe I am. Regardless of where I work I absolutely would have not acted as immature as this girl did in the video. She embarrassed herself and took away from the content of the subject.

[@janjani4910]

@@tdmj2812 This video is 5 years old, I don't know if you can tell. And I don't know if you keep up with all of her videos, but she's older now, more mature and wise. I don't know how old you are, or how would you try to attract a young audience... Maybe you'd be like those boring awful prepotent af high school teachers who do nothing but sit still and read through their lessons. Good job! If you have such a big problem with the way she does her job, maybe you should start your own channel. Teach her how it's done! And give us all the knowledge and entertainment she's given us over the years. I'm sure you can do much, much MUCH better than her.

[@janjani4910]

@@tdmj2812 She was obviously trying to make it a fun and light conversation, something that perhaps people her age (at the time, 5 years ago) would have found more interesting. The video is full of amazing information anyways, what's your problem?

[@celenameg]

I've been waiting for this video for ages! Glad to finally see the finished result. As someone interested in pursuing conservation, I was definitely geeking out big time :)

[@JosephDavies]

This was terrific! It's great to see some active science projects at the museum! It's also pretty cool to cover something less _directly_ biology-focused, and seeing how it has connections to other disciplines (like our familiarity as Brain Scoop viewers with Dermestid beetles). I hope we see further follow-ups on this topic if Conservator Brown has more to present.

[@FlyKiwi]

I'm finally catching up with all the episodes I've missed! Always fascinating.

[@nunyabiznis3595]

How long after internment does it stop being grave robbing and become archaeology?

[@pivinne5536]

nunya biznis roasted

[@noahdenver7349]

It's less about the time the mummy was removed, and more revolved around the purpose of it being unearthed in the first place. I doubt grave robbers were carrying out scientific studies on the specimens they found

[@davidsolt9669]

RubberFistFight it will be in a museum

[@rochelleb973]

they need to leave them alone. very disrespectful. let them rest in peace

[@MMandGlitter]

The purpose of getting into the tomb. Grave robbers didn't care at all about the body and would just destroy it. They only broke into the tombs to take all of the valuables and then sell them for money. Archaeologists' purpose is to obtain, study, and preserve.

[@JoshuaFletch]

According to the dating and the possibility of this guy being far away when he died, he may have died in some battle-related-something against the Assyrian Empire, who were really out and about killing folks in that century. Totally guessing of course.

[@confucheese]

I was there

[@JoshuaFletch]

Please enlighten us Dr. Turd.

[@confucheese]

Josh Fletcher He was swimming in the Nile but he was hit by a speed boat and died.

[@JoshuaFletch]

Dang. You right.

[@richielomas9564]

Tactical Turd His wounds were inconsistent with a speedboat. However, they are consistent with jetskis. 5 to be exact

[@OurCognitiveSurplus]

This dude has an AMAZING voice. Can we have more of him. I could listen to this all day.

[@jarodbeukelman6893]

This episode is literally brain scoop.

[@maszlagma]

Hehe, "Brainscoop"... with mummys that is a really acurate terminology!

[@Naiadryade]

Yes, and plenty of brains have been scooped right on thebrainscoop! Most of the old videos from Montana are dissections/skinning and gutting/prepping animals for taxidermy.

[@henryvonrintelen3748]

Finally, please post more!! (We all love you)

[@petalphan]

Really cool! I watched the film on mummies when I went to the Field museum last summer.

[@TheRiskyBrothers]

hey Emily, I taught myself the brain scoop theme on my trombone!

[@thebrainscoop]

Orly?! Send me a link! (@ehmee on twitter!)

[@TheRiskyBrothers]

***** It might take a bit, my horn's at school right now

[@drewg.4779]

I NEED THE MUSIC FOR THAT

[@picturegeek345]

Magic Penguin On virtualpiano.net/, it's: ttuo, ttip, ttuo, tsapoiuyt.

[@thebrainscoop]

picturegeek345 I just played this like forty times

[@johndewerd4556]

Loved it. I'm a docent in the Egypt exhibit at the Field and was not familiar with this mummy until your video. Such an interesting discovery. I've shown photos of Pen-Ptah's brains to visitors. Most say they look like ground beef, although one boy thought they look like a rice crispy treat.

[@667juliet]

we have a mummy at the museum I work at- in the 1880's our mummy was taken to the local hospital and an autopsy was performed on it. we have the 19thc drs notes and they are fascinating!

[@montialarson]

I love these videos. I'm not in school, but I love learning about biology and history. Please keep making videos like this....with Emily in them!

[@Rebelgirl-kv6bd]

I absolutely love this channel

[@alex0589]

I just said out loud " i thoroughly enjoyed this" Im alone and wearing headphones. Well done.

[@karleybioanthro]

So cool!! I didn't know the Field Museum did these things! I can't wait to go behind the scenes!!

[@Hazel0096]

Great episode. This feels like the old Brain Scoop

[@terralynn9]

Very cool! These are the kinds of episodes I love best. :)

[@milshy01]

this was really fascinating. Thanks for sharing the story.

[@jimkeen7674]

Very cool interview. Emily, I have been a subscriber for a long while and I just want to say how much I love your videos. Your candor, knowledge, character, and enthusiasm for learning as well as teaching are a why we all watch. Please keep up the good work. You're an inspiration.

[@CatherineLu]

I love it when the Brain Scoop has brains scooped!

[@reginaromsey]

Really like this! After the winging in he Caitlin talk I thought you had played empty the piñata with the skull!

[@justacrazywoman]

I love all your videos!

[@sololuisvlogs]

Very interesting! I was hoping to see something more dried up , but to see something left is just amazing!

[@JillH1995]

This episode was really cool. I want to go back to the Field Museum so bad.

[@KLARachelle]

Hah! I'm pretty sure I saw him examining a mummy while I was there this weekend. So awesome.

[@vjohnson0707]

Thanks for sharing this, it is really fascinating!

[@exoticbutter2925]

This Shit is so crazy. Yall are holding a persons LIFE in your hands. Every memory..

[@thecassman]

I'm visiting Egypt in June! Can't wait! Great video, really interesting! :)

[@some3675]

Are you still alive... By the way how is you're visiting at egypt

[@ReadyMadeBouquet]

You almost but didn't quite touch on the politics of collection and the ethics of the 'explorers' and archeologists who collected most of the artifacts now in museums. You've done an awesome job of that in the past (I especially loved your critical but careful treatment of the World's Fair, for example), and I hope you keep it up! Maybe if you don another episode on this exhibit?!

[@libraryofkayla]

I loved this episode. More Ancient Egypt please!

[@jonijohnson9233]

Great episode cool and stuff

[@theeggoftheking4519]

the brain scoop literally

[@annefoley6950]

Came back to watch this after your conversation with Caitlin @AskAMortician I would love to see an update. I think it's important for people to know what sort of considerations are going on behind the exhibits. I'd love to hear from other people at the museum, how they balance scientific and historical curiosity with cultural sensitivity. Maybe an interview with the Field's repatriation officer!

[@carpediem1620]

Dude looks like Vector from ' Despicable Me'.😂🤣

[@memories6365]

I feel like people forget that these mummies were people. That's someone's father, someone's child. They shouldn't be removed from their resting place for us to study. Our knowledge of ancient body preservation isn't important for our lives. These people's bodies shouldn't be disturbed.

[@x612x]

I would recommend to see natural mummies if you want to study mummified brains, there is plenty of them in the southern part of Peru and the North of Chile. In the University of Chile (Universidad de Chile) we have many good specimens where you can observe them, but it hasn't been studied enough

[@RMoribayashi]

I don't know if it would be practical, but the burial ritual that intrigued me the most was that of the Bene Gesserit Reverend Mothers from Frank Herbert's Dune series. They would be buried vertically. with a fruit tree planted above them as the only marker. The books tell of vast orchards, each tree the site of a burial.

[@AwkwardPasta004]

This channel makes me want to work at a museum after I get my biology degree!

[@finchstix6396]

The legit best part of every episode is it still has brains on it

[@Enocent1]

That...is so freaking cool!

[@ferna.746]

For a second I thought the title said "yummy brains" and that's why I clicked it😂

[@potatorodka2795]

I love those earrings!

[@Rhobyn]

In the credits I was fully expecting: "The Brain Scoop" "Literally!"

[@MQZ17]

"It still has brains on it" applies to this episode

[@hannahmedina6527]

YAY! I love your vids

[@Megabean]

I want more dissection! lol

[@HeDoesWhatHeWants]

Hey Emily: Has the Field Museum made an analysis of those ancient dermestid beetles? It'll be amazing to see how much the species changed over the last thousand years. Thanks!

[@desertdumitran]

Yaaaaay thebrainscoop!

[@jazzclarinet2006]

Here's hoping the exhibition comes to or within reasonable driving distance of Raleigh, NC!

[@FilbieTron]

Of my god that is so cool that the beetles were in there!! Are you guys going to look into it further? Are they preserved well?

[@Adimdim18]

At about 3:00 there seems to be a tour group in the background. Are the laboratories also on display at the Field Museum?

[@ethanrussell3163]

Loving the insect shirt, Emily

[@judithwalker3600]

Just wanted you folks to know, I really enjoy ypur show. Keep smiling. Thank you for taking us inside your world and making us feel right at home. How cool is that?!. Judy

[@MrKdnkdn]

Really interesting stuff, Emily! You're super inspiring. ^_^

[@Qermaq]

I hope they do an MRI on it and you can show us! That would be kickass. Love the yellow sweater BTW.

[@ummaaron]

JP is a BOSS

[@Psylent]

SO COOL! Brain beetles and mummy brains on the Brain Scoop!

[@adriansaravia]

setting "thebrainscoop" to another level

[@AssClappicus]

god damn i want to know so badly the story. this video may be simple but it literally vitalized a passion inside of me for mummies. anyways AWESOME VIDEO EMILY

[@matubula]

Was there a change in camera equipment/lighting between the first and second shots? The motion seemed different in the 'one week later' bit.

[@NinjaFalllow]

Emily, I love how your interest piqued as soon as he mentioned 'beetles' xD

[@shredlessmarmalade]

Perhaps the story of the mummy is written in hieroglyphics on the outside of the sarcophacus? Who can say?! Keep making awesome content, Emily & Brain Scoop team!

[@thevirus5547]

Love watching these in my spear time

[@kaleidonize]

Dang, was this Chicago? I need to revisit the field museum

[@Gvantsa]

it's weird to think when we're gone future humans could dig us up and examine our bodies like this

[@matthewrouge]

Radical!

[@Artemis_of_Skyhold]

looooooooooove! MOAR!

[@ebob4177]

So this has been recommended to me again after years.

[@aemrico]

Big fan keep it up 👍🏾

[@ItsThijsbitch]

More mummies!

[@jennystratton1448]

Interesting to hear that beetles potentially came along in the coffin. Were they live, or ancient? (Or were they just more of the same dermestids & blowflies they found inside the skull?) I know in herbaria, incoming specimens get frozen for a few days before packages are opened, to prevent transfer of live pests between institutions or countries. Is that part of the process with these sorts of artifacts too, since they're organic, or is that not really an issue here?

[@sagerrlolol5110]

Emily, I'm a 11 year old girl looking to be a veterinarian when I'm older however I would also love to work in a field museum, which one should I do. ps: I love your videos!

[@vitabrevis8382]

I wonder what are you doing now. Did you decide yet?

[@kat_the_mouse]

more videos with Anna please!!!!!!!

[@potatoesunday8212]

Anthropologists: “ everyone knows the thing conopic jars” Me: “ what the heck is a comopilic car “ lol literally what I heard until I looked at the screen.

[@scifirocks]

what a lovely toupee

[@stopmotion900]

SO COOL WOW

[@duckpondwithoutducks]

I found this episode especially interesting, because I kind of have a thing for Egyptology!

[@laurap4415]

Awesome! Any plans for more ancient world Brain Scoop awesomeness? A little Catalhoyuk insight, maybe?

[@DanielFoland]

I love a brainy show.

[@artizzy2k2k]

I guess the benefit of disturbing this guy's rest is they no longer have insects in their head

[@JuanDVene]

OMG This exhibit came to Orlando Science Center!

[@fortunaaudacesiuvat]

OMG it's Imhotep!! Mummified alive with flesh eating beetles, the eternal curse of Hom Dai.

[@laceypeake4200]

Kefei Lei YESSS!!!!!

[@lydiakies9053]

OMG. Thank you !! I wanted to yell "Run!! He'll steal your tongue or try to kiss you!!" This fabulous dude isn't as juicy as the guy in the movie, though. *whew.*

[@ksriraj143]

It's Wednesday My Dudes imhotep imhoTep coming soon 😝

[@TopekaBodega]

3:13 thank you for reframing that shot. Those kids were distracting lol

[@thebookwyrmslair6757]

Just coming from uor discussion with Caitlyn. This is also the first of your videos I have watched. I can understand why you feel now that it is cringe-worthy, and I concur. I'm glad you've addressed a bit of what's happened since you filed this video and how you've grown as an adult in your understanding of respecting other cultures. I do agree with the other commentor here from thr video with Caitlyn that this is more geared toward making archaeology and anthropology cool for younger viewers. Perhaps leave this one up but create another video with Caitlyn, Egyptologists, etc. to go into this idea of reparation or cultural sensitivity from a 2020 perspective? I came across a few mummies and sarcophagi in a Virginia museum recently and they lightly touched on the conversation, but didn't go in depth. I'd love to see an adult, well presented discussion on the deeper issues particularly with Egypt and its mummies.