European History on Mummies Reveal Disturbing Practice of Cannibalism

Historically, Europeans were driven up with a crazy belief about cannibalism, at the time when they became obsessively fond with Egyptian mummies.

Apparently, dug-up human remains are good for the health and could cure illnesses. Their fascination by ancient Egyptian mummies had grown from the Middle Ages to the 19th century, which went on for centuries.

Whether rich or poor, ground up skulls, bones and flesh have been a part of their way of life, specifically for health and medicinal purposes. ScienceAlert provides a glimpse into the 'zaniest crannies' of European history.

'Unwrapping' the Faith Behind Cannibalism'

With the absence of modern medicine and physicians during the 12^th century, people resorted to something we now may find very awful. However, given the circumstances, we will never truly know how far we are capable of believing in.

A product created from mummified bodies called Mumia was a medicinal substance consumed by everyone for centuries, used apothecaries for their otherworldly medicinal properties, and prescribed medicine for the next 500 years.

The product was known to treat illnesses from headaches to reducing swelling or curing the bubonic plague, according to an article published in the Pharmaceutical Journal. However, not everyone believed.

A royal doctor named Guy de la Fontaine did not see the potential of mumia as treatment and witnessed forgeries of it from dead peasants in Alexandria, opened and filled with bitumen. People are easily conned, he thought, and that it illustrates one point, the supply of real Egyptian mummies do not meet the constant demands for the dead's flesh.

Consequently, some doctors believed that the best medicine does not come from old, dry mummies but from fresh meat and blood, according to the Smithsonian.

This belief convinced even the noblest of nobles, including England's King Charles II who took medication from human skull after suffering a seizure.

The 'Unwrapping' Medieval Event

By the 19^th century, Egyptian corpses are no longer consumed to cure illnesses but were 'unwrapped' for entertainment at Victorian private parties.

Unwrapping events also served a medical purpose in 1834, when surgeon Thomas Pettigrew unwrapped a mummy at the Royal College of Surgeons, where autopsies and operations took place publicly. Soon after the medical pretense was lost, mummies were "no longer medicinal but thrilling".

People flocked and were thrilled to see the unwrapping of bandages of an actual mummy. As dry flesh and bones show, the audience would drink and applaud. When the 20^th century began, unwrapping parties weren't as common due to a sudden death of a Lord attributed to a new superstition called "the mummy's curse".

In 2016, the first public unwrapping of a mummy since 1908 was hosted, touched with "part art, part science, and part show" to recreate what it was like being at a Victorian unwrapping. However, the mummy was only an actor wrapped in bandages and the event made "as tasteless as possible". It took place at St Bart's Hospital in London which reminds that "mummies cross many realms of experience from the medical to the macabre."

Today, unwrapping or eating a mummy was not practiced nor suggested but its idea remains strong. In the black market, antiquity smuggling - including mummies - is worth about US$3 billion.