Saturday, September 28, 2024

What is the biggest and most powerful thing in the body?

Profile photo for Jean-Marie Valheur
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I’d say it is our skin. It is, after all, one of the few things that survive us after death, besides our bones. Below is a recent picture of the Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses II, or Ramesses the Great. He died 1200 years before Jesus Christ was born, about 3200 years seperating his lifetime and ours.

And we can still see him. We can still gaze upon his face. It adds so much character to a face, skin. Without it we all look like some sort of horror show, some bloody Terminator-esque mess. With it, we maintain dignity, even in death. We know Ramesses was a tall old gentleman with whispy red hair. We know he had a dignified, regal appearance — we know this because his skin was preserved, and his remaining hair, although most of it had fallen out during his lifetime (he died in his late nineties, pushing a 100).

Skin covers all of us. It’s the gift wrapping around the core of our very being. And it can be preserved remarkably well, even for millennia after our earthly demise. The Ozymandias poem sure is catchy, but take care of your skin well and your mortal shell may well remain among the living forever, even when your statues and temples have been swallowed by the desert sands. 

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