Bitter Truth Of Medical Cannibalism in 17th Century: Why Europeans Were Eating Egyptian Mummies

Long before there was ibuprofen readily available, or before penicillin was a widespread notion, people searched for cures of daily ailments within the weirdest of places. they might chew herbs, drink mysterious potions, and eat human flesh

Yes, that's right. within the 17th century, Europeans were hardcore medicinal cannibals.

Europeans from all walks of life, from clergymen to royalty would normally take medicine during which the foremost common ingredient was physical body parts. For the foremost part, it had been powdered mummy parts, though fresh human meat was also encouraged.

It all started with Egyptian mummies. European doctors would grind up mummy parts into tinctures, which might be ingested to prevent internal bleeding. The skull was a standard cure for headaches; it might be ground up and ingested in its powdered form.

Sometimes it might be mixed with chocolate, as a hot drink to cure apoplexy or bleeding. King Charles II even created his own mixture, which he called The King's Drop which was made from human skull powder mixed with alcohol.
As well as buried mummy skulls, the moss and decay that grew on them were valued also , because it was believed to cure nosebleeds and epilepsy.

However, the skulls were just the start . Besides ancient bones, the body parts of much fresher victims were also highly coveted.

Human fat was wont to treat external ailments, like open wounds. Doctors would soak bandages in melted fat, and wrap them around injuries, hoping to debar infection. they might also rub chunks of fat onto skin as a remedy for gout.Blood was also useful, but as long as it had been fresh and still contained the vitality of life. German-Swiss physician Paracelsus said that drinking blood would help cure most ailments, and even suggested consuming it from a live person.

He would encourage people to attend executions, and pay alittle fee for a cup of still-warm blood from the departed. However, if that was too gruesome for you, there was a recipe written in 1679 that described the way to make it into marmalade.

The reason that human remains were considered so medicinal was that they were believed to contain the spirit of the body they were taken from. This was why blood was especially powerful. They believed that by eating the person, they were consuming their essence. thanks to this, the blood of young men and virginal women was most preferred.

If you're thinking to yourself there's no way this happened, it must have only been insane scientists and royalty who believed this, then just take a glance at this quote by Leonardo da Vinci:
By Eating Corpses, Rich Europeans Once Thought they might Heal Themselves

Europeans from all walks of life, from clergymen to royalty would normally take medicine during which the foremost common ingredient was physical body parts. For the foremost part, it had been powdered mummy parts, though fresher human meat was also encouraged.

It all started with Egyptian mummies. European doctors would grind up mummy parts into tinctures, which might be ingested to prevent internal bleeding. The skull was a standard cure for headaches; it might be ground up and ingested in its powdered form.

Sometimes it might be mixed with chocolate, as a hot drink to cure apoplexy or bleeding. King Charles II even created his own mixture, which he called The King Drops,which was made from human skull powder mixed with alcohol.


As well as buried mummy skulls, the moss and decay that grew on them were valued also , because it was believed to cure nosebleeds and epilepsy.

However, the skulls were just the start . Besides ancient bones, the body parts of much fresher victims were also highly coveted.

Human fat was wont to treat external ailments, like open wounds. Doctors would soak bandages in melted fat, and wrap them around injuries, hoping to debar infection. they might also rub chunks of fat onto skin as a remedy for gout.


Blood was also useful, but as long as it had been fresh and still contained the vitality of life.German-Swiss physician Paracelsus said that drinking blood would help cure most ailments, and even suggested consuming it from a live person.

He would encourage people to attend executions, and pay alittle fee for a cup of still-warm blood from the departed. However, if that was too gruesome for you, there was a recipe written in 1679 that described the way to make it into marmalade.

The reason that human remains were considered so medicinal was that they were believed to contain the spirit of the body they were taken from. This was why blood was especially powerful. They believed that by eating the person, they were consuming their essence. thanks to this, the blood of young men and virginal women was most preferred.

If you are thinking to yourself there's no way this happened, it must have only been insane scientists and royalty who believed this, then just take a glance at this quote by Leonardo da Vinci:


We preserve our life with the death of others. during a dead thing insensate life remains which, when it's reunited with the stomachs of the living, regains sensitive and intellectual life.

Though the thought of medicinal cannibalism really took off within the 16th and 17th centuries, it wasn't a replacement one, and it actually stayed around for for much longer than most of the people realize.

Ancient Roman gladiators wont to drink the blood of their slain enemies, hoping to soak up their vitality. Ancient healers from Mesopotamia and India believed within the healing properties of physical body parts.

Though the practice dwindled round the 18th century, when people started taking an interest in personal hygiene, there have been still a couple of cases that presented themselves in later years.

In 1847, an Englishman reported being told to combine the skull of a girl with molasses and feed it to his daughter to cure her epilepsy. round the same time, there was a belief that a candle made up of human fat, a thieves candle, could render an individual paralyzed.

Even within the 20th century, mummy powder and parts were sold during a German medical catalog, and in 1908 the last known plan to drink human blood from an execution was attempted.

Though the practice of medicinal cannibalism is, thankfully, now seen as a macabre one, the thought of putting other physical body parts inside our own to heal us is really a lifesaving technique.


After all, blood transfusions, organ donation and skin grafts are all modern, and far healthier, sorts of medicinal cannibalism.