THIS Chinese woman has been preserved for over 2,100 years – and she’s baffled scientist.
Called the Lady of Dai, she’s considered the best preserved-mummy ever discovered.
The incredibly preserved Lady of Dai mummy from her tomb at Mawangdui
Her skin is soft, her arms and legs can bend, her internal organs are still intact and she has her own Type-A blood. She even still has her own hair and eyelashes.
The Lady of Dai, also known as Xin Zhui, lived during the Han dynasty (206BCE – 220AD) and was the wife of the Marquis of Dai.
Her tomb was discovered inside a hill known as Mawangdui, in Changsha, Hunan, China in 1971 when workers were digging an air raid shelter.
The Lady of Dai has her own hair and her skin is still soft
A close-up shot of Xin Zhui’s feet, perfectly preserved at the Hunan Provincial Museum
The Coffin of the second layer – Lady Dai was found locked inside four layers of coffins
According to an autopsy Xin Zhui was overweight, suffered from back pain, high blood pressure, clogged arteries, liver disease, gall stones, diabetes and had a severely damaged heart.
She passed away due to a heart attack at the age of 50 and experts have put it down to her lavish lifestyle as a Marquis.
Xin Zhui has even been nicknamed The Diva Mummy’ because of her apparent life of luxury.
It’s led scientists to believe she is the oldest case of heart disease.
Amazingly, forensic archaeologists have deduced that Xin Zhui’s last meal was a serving of melons.
Xin Zhui passed away due to a heart attack at the age of 50
A recreation of Xin Zhui, the Lady of Dai wearing embroidered silk
In her tomb, which was buried 12 metres underground, she had a wardrobe containing 100 silk garments, 182 pieces of expensive lacquer ware, make-up and toiletries.
She also had 162 carved wooden figurines representing servants in her tomb.
According to records, Xin Zhui’s body was swaddled in 20 layers of silk, immersed in a mildly acidic liquid and sealed within four coffins.
The Lady of Dai is a scientific mystery
This vault of coffins were then packed with five tons of charcoal and sealed with clay.
The tomb was made water tight and air tight so bacteria wouldn’t be able to thrive – but it still remains a scientific mystery just how the body was preserved so well.
There are lots of unanswered questions and despite the Egyptians being the most well-known for their mummies, the Chinese were arguably the most successful at it.
The ancient Chinese’s method of preservation was not as invasive as that of the Egyptians, who removed many of the internal organs from their dead for separate preservation.
For now the Lady of Dai’s incredible preservation remains a mystery.