Decoder Ring Plus | Making a Modern-Day Mummy

Science writer Sam Kean’s latest book, Dinner with King Tut, is all about experimental archaeology. In our main episode, Sam explored examples of people using experiments to rediscover secrets of our past—like how early humans interacted with giant mammoths, or why Alaskan cooking pots are unlike any others in the world. But there’s one mystery Sam shared with us that we didn’t get to: How did the ancient Egyptians make mummies? By the 1990s, the details of the process had long been forgotten. And so the American Egyptologist Bob Brier decided he was going to figure them out—by acquiring a human body and making his own mummy. This episode is for Slate Plus members. Join now to unlock it—plus other exclusive Decoder Ring bonus episodes and ad-free listening across all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe from the Decoder Ring show page on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Or, visit slate.com/decoderplus for access wherever you listen.