Welcome to Morbid Monday! (12/23)

Okay, so when I first heard the trivia question about what mummies haven't been used for, my jaw dropped at some of the options! Especially 'train fuel.' Can you even imagine ancient mummies powering a locomotive? It sounds like something straight out of a horror movie, but believe it or not, the idea of mummies as fuel isn't entirely fiction. While perhaps not on a massive, industrial scale as a primary fuel source, there are historical accounts from the 19th century, particularly during British occupation in Egypt, suggesting that mummified remains – often those of animals or less significant human mummies – were occasionally used to stoke locomotive engines. Wood and coal were scarce, and the desert was, quite literally, full of mummies. It’s a chilling thought, right? The sheer resourcefulness, or perhaps desperation, of the time led to some truly macabre practices. Imagine the smoke from those trains, powered by ancient secrets! It truly highlights how drastically cultural views on death and the dead can change over time. And that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the bizarre afterlife of mummies! The trivia question also mentioned 'medicine,' and oh boy, that's a deep rabbit hole. For centuries, powdered mummies were a staple in European apothecaries, believed to cure everything from headaches to plague. This practice, known as 'mummia,' was incredibly popular from the Middle Ages right up to the 18th century, despite how unsettling it sounds today. People truly thought consuming ground-up ancient bodies had potent healing properties. It shows a fascinating, if grisly, belief system. Then there's 'paint pigment' – the infamous 'mummy brown.' Artists in the 17th to 19th centuries actually used pigment made from ground-up mummies to achieve unique brown hues for their masterpieces. It’s wild to think that some of the world's most renowned art might contain ancient human remains! Even 'fertilizer' was on the list, and while less common for human mummies, the idea of using desiccated remains to enrich soil isn't far-fetched in historical contexts where every resource was maximized, reflecting a practical, albeit morbid, approach to resource management. It makes you wonder about the reverence (or lack thereof) for the dead in different eras. The one thing our trivia question confirmed mummies haven't been used for yet? 'Animal feed.' And honestly, thank goodness for that! It seems there’s a line, even in the most bizarre historical uses. Learning about all these weird and morbid uses really puts things into perspective. What we consider sacred today, others saw as a commodity. It’s a truly fascinating, if somewhat gruesome, part of history that keeps me coming back to these morbid facts!