Xin Zhui, also known as Lady Dai or Marquise of Dai, was the wife of Li Cang, chancellor for the imperial fiefdom of Changsha during the Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD). She died in 163 BC, she lived more than 2000 years ago. The tomb was discovered in Mawangdui, Changsha, Hunan, China.
Her skin is still soft, her legs and arms can bend, her internal organs are still intact. The corpse also retained enough blood to be able to understand its type, A positive, and still has eyelashes and hair in place, despite more than two millennia having passed since her death.
At the time of her death, the woman was wrapped in 22 silk and hemp dresses, tied by 9 silk ribbons with her face covered by a mask. Her coffin was inserted inside 6 other sarcophagi and her body immersed in a liquid whose composition still remains partly unknown.
The autopsy revealed that Xin Zhui suffered from back pain, hypertension, arteriosclerosis, gallstones, diabetes, various liver diseases and was also overweight, a consequence of a sedentary lifestyle linked to previous illnesses. In addition to her many ailments, she had a seriously damaged heart, which led her to die at the age of 50, after a life of luxury and comfort as a Chinese nobleman.
Thanks to the state of conservation, we can say that Lady Dai's mummy is the only mummy that has allowed doctors to carry out a deep and detailed analysis and study like no other.
In the photos of her we see her in a reconstruction of what she must have looked like at the time and the state of her skin at present.
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