Students Mummify Bird Ancient Egyptian Way

With a green plastic frog for companionship, a bag of birdseed for snacks and a pile of raw garlic cloves to repel evil spirits, Mr. Cluck’s tightly wrapped body entered the afterlife Monday with a proper Egyptian burial behind Enders Elementary School.

Culminating a weeks-long lesson on ancient Egypt, students in Joel Farsi’s sixth-grade class wrapped and buried a rooster they hope will mummify in coming years.

The project began two weeks ago, when a parent donated three rooster carcasses for mummification in Farsi’s Room 33 and two other classes.

Farsi, 29, who was attempting the mummification for the first time, said he wasn’t aware that it required boiling water to remove the feathers, so it took the class hours to pluck the bird. Innards were then removed and the roosters placed in bags covered with 80 boxes of salt.

The innards were stored in small bottles in the classroom to be buried with the birds as was done in ancient Egypt. Known as the “great intestines incident,” bacteria grew so fast in some of the jars that they exploded from the pressure and sent a hideous odor into the classroom.

When removed from the salt Monday, the stiff chicken, and what remained of the internal organs, were cleaned and tightly wrapped with strips of fabric cut from pillow cases. Tape was used to hold the fabric in place--as well as to hold on the bird’s head, which had earlier fallen off.

The entire smelly process took about 60 minutes, with students working in teams to wrap the bird and decorate his water-proofed sarcophagus. It will be up to another class in two years to find out if the process worked.

Meanwhile, some students said they aren’t interested in seeing a bird any time soon. “I never liked chicken anyway,” student Robert Page said with a grimace.