Mummy as a Drug.

Area of Science:

• History of Medicine
• Ethnobotany
• Pharmacology

Background:

• The medicinal use of mummy powder was prevalent in Europe from the 12th to 18th centuries.
• Its efficacy was erroneously attributed to natural bitumen, a substance associated with ancient Egyptian mummification processes.
• The practice evolved from genuine Egyptian mummies to include substitutes derived from various desiccated human remains.

Purpose of the Study:

• To trace the historical use of mummy as a medicinal drug in Europe.
• To clarify the origins of the belief in mummy's medicinal properties.
• To document the transition from genuine Egyptian mummies to fraudulent substitutes in the drug trade.

Main Methods:

• Historical analysis of medical texts and trade records from the Middle Ages to the 18th century.
• Examination of the chemical composition of mummification materials to distinguish between resin and bitumen.
• Tracing the geographical sources of mummy drugs supplied to European apothecaries.

Main Results:

• The medicinal use of mummy powder was widespread in Europe for over 600 years.
• The belief in mummy's medicinal properties stemmed from a misunderstanding of Egyptian mummification, which primarily used resin, not bitumen.
• As genuine Egyptian mummies became scarce, the market was flooded with counterfeit mummy drugs made from recently deceased individuals and mummies from North Africa and the Canary Islands.

Conclusions:

• The use of mummy as a drug represents a significant historical misconception in European pharmacopeia.
• The trade in mummy drugs highlights the challenges in sourcing and authenticity within historical apothecary practices.
• The practice's eventual decline was due to the depletion of authentic sources and the proliferation of unreliable substitutes.