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.

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

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

Ancient Egyptians were very selective about who would travel on to the afterlife and who wouldn't. Some mummies were physically damaged with the intent of damning them for eternity.

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.

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

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.