Natural asphalt/bitumen from the Dead SeaApothecary vessel of the 18th century with inscription MUMIAEgyptian mummy seller (1875, Félix Bonfils)Wooden apothecary vessel with inscription "MUMIÆ", Hamburg Museum
Mummia, mumia, or originally mummy referred to several different preparations in the history of medicine, from "mineral pitch" to "powdered human mummies". It originated from Arabic mūmiyā "a type of resinous bitumen found in Western Asia and used curatively" in traditional Islamic medicine, which was translated as pissasphaltus (from "pitch" and "asphalt") in ancient Greek medicine. In medieval European medicine, mūmiyā "bitumen" was transliterated into Latin as mumia meaning both "a bituminous medicine from Persia" and "mummy". Merchants in apothecaries dispensed expensive mummia bitumen, which was thought to be an effective cure-all for many ailments. It was also used as an aphrodisiac.[1]
Beginning around the 12th century when supplies of imported natural bitumen ran short, mummia was misinterpreted as "mummy", and the word's meaning expanded to "a black resinous exudate scraped out from embalmed Egyptian mummies". This began a period of lucrative trade between Egypt and Europe, and suppliers substituted rare mummia exudate with entire mummies, either embalmed or desiccated. After Egypt banned the shipment of mummia in the 16th century, unscrupulous European apothecaries began to sell fraudulent mummia prepared by embalming and desiccating fresh corpses.
During the Renaissance, scholars proved that translating bituminous mummia as mummy was a mistake, and physicians stopped prescribing the ineffective drug. Artists in the 17–19th centuries still used ground up mummies to tint a popular oil-paint called mummy brown.
^Ana, Ruiz (2001). The Sprit of Ancient Egypt. Agora Publishing. ISBN 9781892941497.
Mummia, mumia, or originally mummy referred to several different preparations in the history of medicine, from "mineral pitch" to "powdered human mummies"...
Mummia Achaica was the mother of the Roman Emperor Galba and his elder brother Gaius. She was the granddaughter of the consul Quintus Lutatius Catulus...
seep out. Then it was cooked into a batter before sifting it into a jar. Mummia quickly became popular throughout Europe within the 16th century and was...
ISBN 881150466X. "Lory Del Santo: "Sembro svampita, ma penso. Clapton era una mummia"". Leggo. 12 December 2011. Retrieved 14 February 2012. Lancia, Enrico;...
doe against our willes make us to swallow". These substances were called mummia. The OED defines a mummy as "the body of a human being or animal embalmed...
The gens Mummia was a plebeian family at Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned after the Second Punic War, and within a generation, Lucius Mummius...
York Times. Retrieved 12 December 2018. The Night of Counting the Years Al-Mummia at AllMovie The Night of Counting the Years at IMDb The Night of Counting...
Dalaca mummia is a species of moth of the family Hepialidae. It is known from Brazil. Nielsen, Ebbe S.; Robinson, Gaden S.; Wagner, David L. (2000). "Ghost-moths...
offered "mummia" being counterfeit, made from recent Egyptian or European corpses – often from the gallows – instead. In a few cases, mummia was still...
and the sale of said honey for medicinal purposes. Medical cannibalism Mummia Roach, Mary (2008). Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers. Paw Prints...
was a historian and his son was a barrister whose first marriage was to Mummia Achaica, granddaughter of Quintus Lutatius Catulus and great-granddaughter...
offered "mummia" being counterfeit, made from recent Egyptian or European corpses – often from the gallows – instead. In a few cases, mummia was still...
Delacroix. Caput mortuum (pigment), a pigment also known as cardinal purple Mummia, a medicinal preparation sometimes made from mummies St. Clair, Kassia (2016)...
with No Name (August 2006, originally published in 2005 in Italy as La mummia senza nome) The Christmas Toy Factory (October 2006, originally published...
Perverted names. One example is clear. Using Suetonius, the author changed 'Mummia' to 'Memmia' (Alex. 20. 3, cf. above). That is a mere trifle in the devices...
Man and the Weerdinge Men. The skeletal remains were ground and used for mummia, which was a substance used for medicine in earlier times. No remains have...
directed by Éric Rohmer – (France) The Night of Counting the Years (Al-Mummia) – (Egypt) Nightmare in Wax, starring Cameron Mitchell and Anne Helm Number...
Culpepper and many agents of animal tissue origin, including some derived from mummia, or "The Deade body or flesh." The practice of 'medical cannibalism' has...
a large number of mummies is generally attributed to the popularity of mummia, a pharmaceutical substance created out of pulverized mummies. The Guanche...
glacier" BBC News 23 August 2004 Roberto Bianchin Il ghiacciaio dei soldati-mummia Corpi intatti dopo 86 anni La Republica.it 22 August 2004 "Un Capitano sepolto...
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