World history records cases of people treating fellow corpses in strange and somewhat scary ways. Let’s review some trends/incidents of ancient people “handling” bodies to see that we are very lucky to live in modern times.
1. Grind the mummy into a healing powder
Hundreds of years ago, mumia powder – was considered a panacea to cure all diseases. According to medical handbooks of the time, mummia powder could prevent internal bleeding, relieve menstrual pain and even speed up wound healing. It sounds great, except that mumia powder is prepared from… dead human bodies.
Since the 11th century, mummy powder has been present on the European pharmaceutical market. This time was also the time when the “grave robbers” epidemic developed very strongly, many corpses were stolen and sold… openly on the streets.
The reason is because Egyptian mummies are not available, but people can create them themselves, just paint a layer of asphaltum (a black resin used in the mummification process) inside the chest cavity, then roll the mummy. in ice, dry and… grind.
Mummy powder is very popular due to its belief in curing all diseases. By the 16th century, the era when the “alchemists” ascended the throne, it was shown that this belief was unfounded.
However, because this is so ingrained in awareness, mummy powder continues to exist. Even in the 19th century, a famous German pharmaceutical company also sold “mummy powder” at a reasonable price. very affordable.
2. Use the skull to make… a wine cup
In the 17th century, Edward Teach, also known as “Blackbeard”, was one of the most feared pirates of all time, once a terror in the Eastern seas and the Caribbean. Blackbeard’s power grew stronger and stronger, making it impossible for the government to ignore him and decide to eliminate him. To make sure Teach was dead, they cut off his head and brought him back to present.
Initially, Blackbeard’s head was staked at the mouth of the river in Williamsburg, Virginia, to deter those who intended to sabotage the government. However, after the once-famous pirate’s head remained intact, a nearby pub owner made a… bold decision, which was to turn that skull into a wine bowl.
That’s the Raleigh pub. After appropriating Teach’s skull, the innkeeper coated it with a layer of silver, then turned it into the body of a wine bowl, named “the infant” – The Infant. A century later, The Infant bowl was displayed in pubs, occasionally used as a wine bowl for parties.
By 1920, the skull disappeared for unknown reasons (likely due to theft). It reappeared in the 1990s and is currently displayed at the Peabody Essex Museum, USA.
3. Take photos with the dead
The reign of Queen Victoria (1819 – 1901) was very famous for people’s strange hobbies, including “corpse photography”. It sounds normal, but this is a “Victorian” style shoot.
In the past, the English had the expression “memento mori” – Latin, meaning “Remember that you will die”. This idiom opens up a culture of keeping mementos of the deceased – curls of hair, paintings… as a way to remember them.
But when photography was born, middle-class families came up with another style of preservation, which is “corpse photography”. When a family member dies, relatives will find a way to decorate and decorate the body so that it looks like it is still alive and living normally, then take photos. The photos will be displayed in the most formal room in the family.
However, the problem is that the camera then has a quite long exposure time – about 10 minutes. It means that the person taking the photo next to the corpse will have to… sit still for such a period of time.
In addition, corpses looked as similar to when they were alive as possible, so people at that time did not hesitate to apply tricks to the bodies of their loved ones – such as putting pins in the eyes to keep them open, or making permanent frames. to keep the body in a beautiful position… Maybe this was a fashionable hobby at that time, but to treat the body of a loved one like that was still difficult to accept.
4. Take the skull as a trophy
The Naga tribe living in the Naga hills, Northeast India is famous for its fighting prowess and somewhat “horror” name – headhunting warriors. Warriors who own more valuable “heads” are more honored, are given special tattoos, and their social status is raised.
The Naga camp is like a horror movie – fresh heads are left on the doorstep for months, until the flesh rots away. The skull will be placed in a hut where young warriors can visit. The skulls are decorated differently, depending on the “level” of the owner before falling, and are often fitted with horns or ivory.
In addition, “skull collection” also served to “woo” young warriors. Instead of giving chocolate and roses as usual, the dowry for girls will be a “fresh” head or a skull with horns or tusks attached.
5. Use dead people’s skin to make pants
The term Nabrokarstafur is an ancient Icelandic word, meaning Necropants. This is considered a form of rune magic tool, said to bring boundless wealth. The ingredients used to make it are as the name suggests – made from corpse skin.
According to ancient records, in Iceland in the 17th century, a “witch” wearing a pair of pants made from the skin of a dead friend was believed to bring endless wealth.
The corpses used are always male and include the skin of the penis. The method of implementation is quite scary. First, the creator of this strange pair of pants must receive permission from his friend while he was still alive.
After that, the dead person will be dug up from the grave and stripped of all skin below the waist without being allowed to tear or puncture any position. As soon as the “witch” gets into his pants, the dead man’s skin will stick to his body and become a unified whole.
The piece of paper symbolizing Nabrokarstafur was inserted into the genital area of the pants along with a coin.
But why would anyone want to wear such scary pants? The answer is because in the past Icelanders believed that pants made from dead human skin had a “magic scrotum pocket”.
Just put on the pants, go to the nearest widow and steal the coin from him, then put it in the “scrotum pocket”. After doing this, if it works, the coin will slowly duplicate and you will have an endless source of money.
Perhaps there is still no document recording success with this magic that “goes against any economic theory”, but scientists confirm that skinning dead people to make pants in ancient times was real.
