Ding Dong Darkness Time

DDD7: Humans Consuming Humans -- Mummy Edition

September 12, 2022 Allison Dickson Episode 7
Ding Dong Darkness Time
DDD7: Humans Consuming Humans -- Mummy Edition
Show Notes

Let's talk about cannibalism! Specifically medical cannibalism.

Humans have been using corpses medicinally for centuries. A little ground up skull for a headache. A sip of blood for the spirit. A slather of human fat for a wound. But around the 12th century, they went particularly nuts for Egyptian mummies, and for the next 500 years, it was available at any town apothecary.

Learn all about ground up mummies, whether unearthed from Egyptian tombs, or locally sourced from the neighborhood executioner and made in-house, and how people used them to treat various ailments, and even made paint pigment out of their ground-up remains.

And that's only a little of what's packed into this 20-something minutes. Come for the primer on curative cannibalism and cultural exploitation. Stay for the always timely reminder as to why incest is bad.

Additional Info:

Smithsonian Magazine Article on Corpse Medicine
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-gruesome-history-of-eating-corpses-as-medicine-82360284/

Modern Antiquities Smuggling
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-21/egypts-3-billion-dollar-smuggling-problem/10388394

Peruvian Gang Harvesting Human Fat
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/nov/20/peru-gang-killing-human-fat

Mummy Brown Pigment Wiki
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mummy_brown

History of Consuming Human Remains
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/mumia-the-strange-history-of-human-remains-as-medicine#A-controversial-practice

Mummia Wiki
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mummia

Mummy Craze of the Victorian Era
https://theconversation.com/why-did-people-start-eating-egyptian-mummies-the-weird-and-wild-ways-mummy-fever-swept-through-europe-177551

Show Credits:

Show Credits:
Graphics -- Nathaniel Dickson: http://ndickson.com
Intro Music -- Spencer Morelock
Background Music -- Ken Dickson: https://soundcloud.com/kenjamd

Ding Dong Darkness Time Media:
Twitter: @dddarknesstime
Instagram: dddarknesstime
Gmail: dddarknesstime@gmail.com

Show Credits:
Graphics -- Nathaniel Dickson: http://ndickson.com
Music -- Spencer Morelock, Ken Dickson

Ding Dong Darkness Time Media:
Twitter: @dddarknesstime
Instagram: dddarknesstime
Gmail: dddarknesstime@gmail.com