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.

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.

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.

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.

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.