Why are mummies called mummies?

Answer 1

Egyptians believed in something called the land of the dead. It was a place they would go and live after they died. But in order to go to the land of the dead their spirit must stay in their body and not be disturbed for over 50 years.

Answer 2

'Mummy' comes from 'mummia', which is derived from the Arabic word for the asphalt used by the Egyptians to preserve ('mummify') the corpse. It was, until about a hundred years ago, prized for its use as a pigment in art works. Think about that next time you are looking at one of the 'Masterpieces' in an art gallery...

Answer 3

Well, there are many ways so say your mother. Mom, Mommy, etc. But the reason some people say Mum and Mummy is because their from England. There, the people have an accent called the English Accent, which makes them say Mummy instead of Mommy. But that's a good thing! Everyone has their own culture. I'm not exactly sure what the word 'mummy' came from though. Hope this helps!

Answer 4

One of the most curious commodities Europeans sought from Egypt was 'mummy' for use as a medicinal ingredient. In the 16th and 17th centuries, it was one of the most common drugs found in the apothecaries' shops of Europe, and in 1658 the philosopher Sir Thomas Browne commented, 'Mummy is become Merchandise, Mizraim cures wounds, and Pharaoh is sold for Balsams.' However, it seems that from as early as AD 1100, and probably before, mummy was prescribed as a medicinal ingredient.

The word 'mummy', according to Abd' el-Latif the Arab physician who was writing in the 12th century, was derived from the Persian term mumia which meant pitch or bitumen. In Persia this substance flowed from the mountain tops and, mixed with the waters that carried it down, coagulated like mineral pitch; the resultant liquid was purported to have medicinal properties and indeed may have had some real benefit as an antiseptic. The Mummy Mountain became famed for this healing substance, and even the Queen of England received a gift ofmumia from the King of Persia in 1809.

However, the demand rapidly exceeded the natural supply, and so other sources were sought. The blackened appearance of some of the preserved bodies of the ancient Egyptians (particularly those prepared in the later periods) led to the erroneous assumption that this was the result of the bodies being soaked in bitumen, and so it was believed that they would provide an alternative supply of mumia for medicinal use. Indeed, Abd' el-Latif claimed, 'The mummy found in the hollow corpses in Egypt differs but immaterially from the nature of mineral mummy and where any difficulty arises in procuring, the latter may be substituted in its stead.' The word mumia was consequently applied to these preserved bodies, and they have since come to' be known as 'mummies'.

The history of the trade in mumia thus goes back over several centuries. In the earliest days, a flourishing business was established at Alexandria and since large profits were to be made, many foreigners began to trade in mumia, exporting complete mummies or packages of fragmented tissue from Cairo and Alexandria. Soon, demand began to exceed supply and in his History of Mummies written in 1834, the surgeon Thomas Pettigrew commented, 'No sooner was it credited that mummy constituted an article of value in the practice of medicine than many speculators embarked in the trade; the tombs were sacked, and as many mummies as could be obtained' broken into pieces for the purpose of sale.'

The Egyptian authorities had to limit export of mummies, but this only exacerbated the problem and led to fraudulent solutions. Pettigrew explains how Guy de la Fonteine of Navarre investigated the mummy trade in Alexandria in 1564; when he looked into the stock of mummies held by the chief dealer there, he found that the supply was augmented by preparing the bodies of the recently dead, often executed criminals, by treating them with bitumen and exposing them to the sun, to produce mummified tissue which was then sold as authentic mumia. Later in the 18th century, when the nature of such supplies was eventually revealed to the authorities, traders were imprisoned, a tax was levied, and it became illegal to remove mummies from Egypt.

Answer 5

because they put this stuff called mummia that they put on the wrapping to "glue" it all together. the word mummification comes from the word mummia, and thats why there called mummies.