Skip to main content

History of the Mummy

Author:
Video Rating:
TV-PG
Video Duration:
2:10

A step by step process of how a body was prepared for mummification. The brain was removed along with all other major organs except the heart.

FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate.

RELATED CONTENT

How were mummies made? Scientists weigh in on a surprisingly complex process.

Making Mummies

Trepanation was a process seen in Peruvian mummies in which an ancient witch doctor cut out a portion of the human skull.

Holey Mummies

For years, scientists have been trying to figure out how Egyptians mummified their dead. Secrets of the trade were passed down from father to son, allowing the process to remain a closely guarded secret.

Mummy Secrets

The Chin Choi, a fishing community south of Peru, wrapped their dead 1,500 years before the earliest Egyptian mummies.

Oldest Mummies

When Bram Stoker wrote "Jewel of Seven Stars" in the early 1900s, he described an ancient Egyptian mummy who comes to life and slaughters everyone in sight. His writing sparked mummy madness among the Victorians.

Mummy Mania

Nobody knows when mummy unwrapping parties first started, but royalty used to throw them quite often. Although mummy unwrapping ultimately went out of fashion, mummies never have.

Mummy Unwrapping Parties