Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (458 page)

The technique of preserving a human or animal body according to rites practised in ancient Egypt. The viscera and brain were extracted from the corpse and preserved in a series of four
CANOPIC JARS
. The body was then treated with natron (sodium carbonate) to dry it out before it was wrapped tightly in bandages. Jewellery, religious texts, and unguents of various kinds were bound into the bandaging and covering shroud. All stages of the ritual, which could take months, were accompanied by elaborate ceremonies, culminating in the Opening of the Mouth Ceremony which symbolically restored the completed mummy to life.
The term ‘mummification’ has been extended to refer to corpses wrapped in bandages and naturally preserved by desiccation, as for example in the Peruvian deserts and remote Andean caves.

 
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The body of a person or animal that has been subject to
MUMMIFICATION
. Human mummies were usually enclosed within a wooden or gold case before being buried.

 
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A self-governing chartered city of the second grade; a chartered settlement of Roman citizens or of people enjoying ‘Latin rights’.
Municipia
are ranked next in dignity to
COLONIAE
, but the status was normally conferred on an already existing community.

 
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A set of standard colour swatches developed for the Geological Survey of America that provides an objective for describing soil colour or, in archaeological finds analysis, the colour of ceramic fabrics. Three factors are assessed:
hue
—the spectrum is divided into ten main colours, each of which is subdivided into ten variants; the
value
—the darkness or lightness of the colour rated from 1 to 10; and the
chroma
—the greyness or purity of the colour rated on a scale from 1 to 10. A typical Munsell colour reference might therefore read: 5YR4/6. Anyone with a set of charts can look up the relevant swatch and see the original colour.

 
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An opening in the ceiling of an enclosed gateway or the parapet of a wallwalk through which missiles or burning oil could be thrown onto attackers below.

 
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Murray , Margaret
(1863–1963)
[Bi].

British archaeologist well known for her work in Egypt. Born in Calcutta, Murray spent most of her childhood and adolescence in India. In 1893 she enrolled for a course of study at University College London under Flinders Petrie , and here she was introduced to Egyptology. In 1899 she was appointed junior lecturer in Egyptology at University College and in 1902 joined Petrie's expedition to Egypt. During WW1 college duties made work in Egypt impractical and she turned her attention to other matters, the results of which were later published as
The witch cult in western Europe
(1921, Oxford: OUP). After the war she continued work in Egypt, being made a Fellow of University College in 1922 and an Assistant Professor in 1924. Publications from this period include
Egyptian sculpture
(1930, London: Duckworth) and
The splendour that was Egypt
(1949, London: Sidgwick and Jackson ). Having retired from her post, Murray spent WW2 working for an organization that sent lecturers to army outposts in the UK.
[Abio.: 1963,
My first hundred years
, London: Kimber]

 
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