Unwrapping history, unraveling secrets, and raising ancient eyebrows, mummies have long captivated our imaginations. From preserving the past in an oddly captivating way to leaving us with more questions than answers, these silent sentinels of the past never fail to astound. So, grab your adventurer’s hat, dust off your curiosity, and embark on a spine-tingling journey through 20 Captivating mummy facts that will have you wrapped up in awe.
1-5 Fun Facts About Mummies
1. The Egyptians were not the first civilization to practice mummification. Roughly 2,000 years earlier, the Chinchorro people in South America were already mummifying their deceased, including infants and fetuses.
2. The ancient Egyptians used large quantities of linen for mummification. For instance, the linen on a mummy from the 11th dynasty covered an area of 9,095 feet (845 square meters), which is equivalent to three tennis courts.
3. When Ramses II’s mummy was transported to France in the 1970s, it was issued an official Egyptian passport, where Ramses was listed as “King (deceased)” for occupation.
4. Mummies were highly sought after for medicinal purposes during the European Middle Ages. Europeans would boil mummies and utilize the extracted oils to treat various ailments like bruising, stomach aches, and more.
5. One of the most popular mummies worldwide is likely that of Vladimir Lenin. Millions of visitors to Moscow have visited his preserved mummy.
6-10 Interesting Facts About Mummies
6. The ancient Egyptians mummified a wide variety of animals, including cats, rams, ibises, hawks, crocodiles, mice, rats, lizards, and even eggs.
7. Egypt has yielded over one million mummies, predominantly of cats.
8. Mummification was considered a crucial step towards achieving a happy afterlife according to ancient Egyptian beliefs.
9. Who knew that ancient Egyptian mummies had a taste for nicotine and cocoa? Traces of these substances have been found in the remains of mummies, suggesting that the Egyptians enjoyed their vices even in the afterlife.
10. During Roman times, Egyptian mummies were occasionally accompanied by realistic portraits of the deceased painted on wooden boards. Approximately 900 of these portraits are known to exist.
11-15 Surprising Facts About Mummies
11. Rosalia Lombardo, a two-year-old girl, is one of the most famous child mummies and the most renowned mummy in the Sicilian catacombs. Her father had her embalmed after she died of pneumonia in 1920, earning her the nickname “Sleeping Beauty.”
12. In ancient Egypt, the Valley of the Kings was protected by a cobra-shaped goddess named Meretseger. Legend states that she would blind or poison any tomb raiders who disturbed the tombs.
13. The oldest known tattoos were discovered, using UV light, on a 5,000-year-old mummy.
14. When ancient Egyptians were ready to embark on their journey to the afterlife, they didn’t forget to pack their Book of the Dead. It was like a magical guidebook filled with spells to help them navigate through the underworld. Think of it as the original GPS for the soul.
15. Mummification in ancient Egypt took about 40 days, during which the body lost 75% of its original weight due to the dehydrating effects of the process.
16-20 Shocking Facts About Mummies
16. Imagine living in a place where you had to pay a tax to protect your deceased relatives from being turned into mummies on display. In Guanajuato, Mexico, people had to cough up some cash to ensure their loved ones rested in peace. You had to pay the “Don’t Turn My Grandma Into a Museum Exhibit” fee. Thankfully, that law is now a thing of the past.
17. In ancient Egypt, chief embalmers often wore a mask representing the God Anubis.
18. The pharaoh Tutankhamun was buried with a mummified erect penis and without a heart to resemble the god Osiris.
19. King Charles II believed that using mummy dust would enhance his greatness, so he applied it to his skin.
20. Climate change is causing Chilean mummies to decompose rapidly into black slime due to increased humidity and the spread of flesh-eating microbes.
That’s it for this post guys, I hope you had fun while reading 20 Awesome Mummies facts
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