The belief that ancient Egyptian mummies could cure diseases has led people to strange eating habits for centuries. Mumia, the product obtained from mummified bodies, was defined as a medicinal substance extracted from mummy remains that were consumed by the rich and poor for centuries, sold in pharmacies, and brought to Europe from Egyptian tombs.
In the 12th century, apothecaries used ground mummies for their “otherworldly medicinal properties.” Mummies became a prescribed medicine for the next 500 years. In a world without antibiotics, doctors grinded skulls, bones, and meat to treat ailments ranging from headaches to reducing swelling to curing the plague.
However, not everyone accepted this. The royal physician, Guy de la Fontaine, doubted that the mummy was a useful medicine. When he saw fake mummies made of dead peasants in Alexandria in 1564, he lost his faith completely and realized that people could be defrauded because of it. That is, real ancient mummies were not always used for “medicine”.
At this point he realized that there was a constant demand for dead meat for use in medicine, and the number of real Egyptian mummies could not afford it.
Pharmacists and healers were still dispensing mummy medicines until the 18th century. King of England II. Charles took drugs made from a mummy’s skulls after he had a seizure, and by 1909 doctors had widely used human skulls to treat neurological conditions.
From eating mummies to “unpacking” ceremonies
Eating mummy was considered a royal medicine for royalty and the elite of society, as doctors claimed that the mummy was made from pharaohs. But by the 19th century, people were no longer consuming mummies to cure diseases. However, this did not change the bad luck of the mummies. During the Victorian era, residents began hosting “pack-opening parties” where Egyptian mummies were unpacked for entertainment at private parties.
Napoleon’s first expedition to Egypt in 1798 aroused European curiosity and prompted travelers to Egypt in the 19th century to bring back mummies bought on the street in Egypt.
Victorians held private parties to open the remains of ancient Egyptian mummies. The first unpacking events had at least an air of medical prestige. In 1834, surgeon Thomas Pettigrew opened the “package” of a mummy at the Royal College of Surgeons. At the time, autopsies and operations were performed in public, and this “unpacking” was a public medical event.
After a while, the pretext for medical research also disappeared. Mummies were no longer medicinal but exciting beings. A dinner host who could entertain the audience while “opening the package” was rich enough to have a real mummy.
The excitement of seeing dry flesh and bones come out as the bandages unwrapped made people flock to these wraps, whether in a private home or on the stage of an educated society. The strong drinks that accompanied these “shows” meant that the audience was loud and grateful.
Things are changing in the 20th Century
With the beginning of the 20th century, mummification parties also came to an end. The dreadful excitements seemed unpleasant and the inevitable destruction of archaeological remains sad. Later, the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb started a trend that shaped art deco design in everything from the door motifs in the Chrysler Building to the shape of the clocks designed by Cartier. The sudden death in 1923 of Lord Carnarvon, a sponsor of the Tutankhamun expeditions, was of natural causes, but soon started the belief in the “curse of the mummy”.
In 2016, Egyptologist John J. Johnston hosted the first public “unpack” of a mummy since 1908. Part art, part science, and part spectacle, this trench was Johnston’s apt imitation of a Victorian event. Everything was as unpleasant as possible, from the Bangles’ Walk Like an Egyptian playing on the loudspeaker to the participants walking around with dry drinks in their hands.
But the mummy was not real; he was just an actor wrapped in bandages. But it was a dizzying mix. The fact that it took place at St Bart’s Hospital in London was like a modern reminder that mummies crossed many fields of experience, from medicine to spooky.
Today, the black market value of antiquities smuggling, including mummies, reaches approximately US$3 billion. No serious archaeologist opens the mummy anymore, and no doctor recommends eating it. However, the charm of the mummy is still quite strong. They are still for sale, still exploited, and still exist as a commodity.
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