Sahar saleem
He healing infections, strokes and even melancholy. Eating the dead had a thousand and one advantages 400 years ago. Or it was all a simple mistake …
The history of medicine is full of medicines that, seen through a modern lens, seem disconcerting, misguided or completely macabre. Among them is “mummy” – A medicinal substance derived from mummified human remains.
Between the 12th and 17th centuries, doctors from all over Europe revenue mummy powder to heal all diseasesfrom internal bleeding and broken bones to epilepsy and melancholy.
Once considered as a powerful elixir infused with the life force of the ancients, The mummy was a product of first need in the apothecaries, sought by the rich and recommended by the wise. However, as medical knowledge evolved, attitudes also evolved in this unusual remedy and, around the eighteenth century, had been faded in obscurity.
The belief in the healing power of the mummy was deeply rooted in the predominant medical theories of the time. One of these theories was the doctrine of signatures, which maintained that natural substances resembled the diseases they should cure.
The mummified meat, preserved for centuries, seemed to be an obvious candidate for the Caries treatment, wounds and internal deterioration. Another influential idea was the vitalismthe notion that the life force could be transferred from one body to another, particularly from a preserved human being to a living patient.
This joined European fascination with medical traditions of the Islamic world. Arab doctors, such as Avicena, had described the use Betumen Therapy – A natural -like natural substance, also called mummy – which had medicinal applications in wound healing.
When these texts were translated into Latin, European academics mistakenly confused a mummy with Egyptian mummiesassuming that the embalmed dead were imbued with similar restorative properties. The result was a flourishing trade of crushed human remains, with mummies from Egyptian tombs, graves, and even local execution sites.
The mummy was prescribed to a surprising variety of diseases. Doctors believed they could accelerate healing, prevent infections and even cure epilepsy. Ingested powder or mixed in dyes, it was recommended for internal bleeding, Brain vascular accidents e tuberculosis. Some suggested it could ward off or restore the vitality of youth, making it a popular remedy among the European elite.
Boticaries stored mummy dust along with other medicines of human origin, such as the dust skull (Human Cranium) and distilled human fat (axleous man).
The older the remains were, the more powerful they were considered. However, as The search for a mummy exceeded the supply of mummies genuine Egyptian, opportunistic traders turned to more recent corpses-some even resorted to theft to satisfy market needs.
Eventual decline
Despite its widespread use, the mummy had its detractors. In the 16th century, Some doctors have begun to question both their effectiveness and their ethical implications. The Swiss doctor Paracelso (1493-1541) argued that only fresh human remains-not the embalmed old meat-had medicinal value, while others rejected the practice as only superstition.
The growing emphasis on empirical science in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries wrapped the faith in the mummy further. As anatomy and pathology advanced, the idea that tissues preserved for centuries could cure the living It seemed less and less plausible. At the same time, public attitudes towards human remains began to change.
The rise of Egyptology and the archaeological interest in the mummies re-entered them as historical artifacts and not as medical products, making their consumption unpleasant even for those who had once sworn to their healing properties.
The mummy’s decline serves to remember how medical knowledge evolves, abandoning once venerated treatments in favor of evidence -based approaches. However, although medicinal cannibalism may seem shocking today, the search for miraculous healing continues. Of Stem cell therapies supplements of longevity, the desire to enjoy the essence of one’s life persists – though with more scientific rigor.
