When Europe Devoured Egypt: The Cannibalism of the Wise

By Victor M Fontane

For over 300 years, the tombs of the Nile were plundered not for gold, but for flesh. Egyptian mummies, sacred guardians of eternity, were turned into merchandise, ground up, and sold in European pharmacies as a panacea. It was medical cannibalism: the belief that consuming the past could cure the present.

The Origin: A Translation Mistake That Unleashed Mass Desecration

It all began with a linguistic misunderstanding. The Arabic word mumia referred to bitumen, a natural resin with medicinal properties. Upon finding it on the embalmed bodies, medieval European scholars made a fatal error: they confused the container with the contents. They believed that the healing power resided in the flesh of the deceased.

The Trade in Death: From Tombs to Apothecaries

A lucrative and sinister market was unleashed. Mummies were ripped from their sarcophagi, dismembered, and ground into a dark powder that was sold for exorbitant prices. It was mixed with wine or honey to "treat" everything from the plague to melancholy. Demand was so voracious that it exhausted the supply of real mummies.

The Macabre Farce: Fake Mummies for an Insatiable Appetite

To satisfy the market, unscrupulous merchants began to manufacture fake mummies. The bodies of recently deceased beggars, criminals, and slaves were hastily embalmed and sold as "authentic Egyptian mummies." Europe was not only devouring the ancient pharaohs, but also its own poor.

The Ironically Frivolous End

The myth began to crumble in the 19th century, not due to ethical remorse, but because of a change in fashion. Mummies ceased to be medicine and became spectacle. The "unwrapping parties" of the Victorian era were the frivolous epilogue to three centuries of systematic desecration.

One of history's great paradoxes: the same Europe that marveled at Egyptian wisdom.