"Occasionally embalmers would break the bone behind the nose, and break the brain into small pieces in order that it could be pulled out through the nasal passage. The embalmers would then fill the skull with thick plant-based resin or plant resin sawdust."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mummy
Originally posted by der schwarze Ritter Any hack can pull the brain of a corpse out through the nose, but it takes real skill to remove a tumor...and the patient survive.
I am with you on the relevance of afterlife to us ( a rare moment).
However the egyptians beleived it was very important, they spent their whole life with their whole empire preparing for the king's death. The finest surgeons with the best techniques would have performed the procedures; they would spend years preparing before they cut the king up. Not surprisingly they came across the same method.