October 26, 2023 – THEME WEEK DAY 4

We’re still working our way through our theme week on Monsters! Today we’re talking about mummies!
Mummies of both humans and animals have been found on every continent, resulting from natural preservation and as cultural artifacts. Over a million animal mummies have been found in Egypt, many of which are cats. While we typically think of mummies as being from Egypt, deliberate mummification was part of ancient cultures in areas of America and Asia with dry climates. For example, the Spirit Cave mummies in Nevada, are more than 9,400 years old!
In the Middle Ages, mummies were thought to have healing properties. It was common practice to grind up Egyptian mummies into a powder which was sold and used as medicine. It was thought that mummies were embalmed with bitumen, a type of asphalt from the Dead Sea that had supposed medicinal properties. This was actually rarely the case, but nevertheless, the practice flourished until the late 16th century.
The most famous mummy in modern history is King Tut, discovered in 1922 by British archeologist Howard Carter. According to folklore, disturbing a mummy’s tomb would result in death. It didn’t stop Carter, however. Several people involved in his expedition died early of unnatural causes, which was sensationalized in the press. This and the discoveries inside the tomb were prominent news in the 1920s, and brought mummies into the mainstream.
It was Boris Karloff’s portrayal of a mummy in the 1932 movie The Mummy that cemented them as mainstream monsters. It took make-up artist Jack Pierce 8 hours to transform Karloff into the mummy. He finished his scenes at 2 a.m. and it took another 2 hours to remove his makeup. Karloff called it the most trying ordeal he had ever endured! Thanks to the success of the movie and its various sequels, mummies joined the pantheon of 19th century Gothic monsters. Learn more here.