In 15th-century Europe, powdered human remains were stocked on apothecary shelves and swallowed as medicine. Doctors prescribed them for headaches, stomach ailments, and even cancer. What began as a linguistic misunderstanding grew into centuries of tomb-raiding, counterfeit bodies, and the widespread trade of human remains across the continent.
A Single Word Sparks a Trade
The practice began in the 11th century with mistranslations of the Arabic word mumia. The original mumia referred to a black asphalt substance that seeped from a Persian mountainside and was used medicinally in the Islamic world. European translators mistakenly believed it described a substance found inside preserved Egyptian bodies. Because some mummies were embalmed with asphalt, the confusion deepened, and mumia became associated with human remains rather than mineral pitch.
Medicine from the Dead
Europeans already believed in the healing power of human bodies. Gladiators’ blood was thought to help epilepsy, human fat appeared in folk remedies, and King Charles II reportedly drank a tincture made from powdered skull called “King’s Drops.” By the late Middle Ages, actual mummies became a sought-after ingredient. Apothecaries sold ground mummy powder to treat various ailments, and demand led to the plundering of Egyptian tombs.
Fakes, Theft, and Trade
The mummy market soon exceeded the number of available ancient bodies. Bodysnatchers began stealing recently executed criminals and enslaved people, embalming them with salt and drugs, drying them in ovens, and selling them as “authentic” mummies. Observers documented these practices in detail, describing how night-time grave theft fed European demand. Powdered human remains were mixed into remedies and sold across apothecaries from Italy to England.
Egyptomania and the Decline of Mumia
By the Victorian era, fascination with Egypt had shifted into spectacle. In England, mummy unwrapping events took place in hospitals, lecture halls, and private homes. Even though antiquities export was banned, mummies continued to be smuggled for display and for medicine. By the late 19th century, medicinal mummy use finally ended, though Egyptomania persisted in popular culture and advertising.
In 15th century Europe, powdered human remains were sold as medicine.
Doctors prescribed them for headaches, stomach ailments, and even cancer.
This is how a mistranslated Arabic word fed tomb raids, counterfeit bodies, and public mummy unwrappings…🧵👇 pic.twitter.com/du23rdfNng
— Fascinating True Stories (@FascinatingTrue) October 16, 2025