Immerse yourself in the Scented Luxuries of Ancient Egypt!

Mumia vera aegyptiaca, was a powder made from ground ancient Egyptian mummies, and was considered an exotic cure-all for hundreds of years, with reference to mumia being found in medical literature from the 8th through to the 20th centuries. Mumia or mummia is the Latinized version of mumya, the Arabic word for bitumen, a naturally occurring form of black tar, which is one of the ingredients in the Seven Sacred Oils used by the ancient Egyptians to preserve mummies. The substance was a part of the Materia Medica of early physicians in Persia around 865 CE, who likely had an inkling as to what it actually was, and was primarily prescribed to heal wounds, bruises and sores. It from this word that the term “mummy” originally came, since mummies were literally blackened by this bitumen based oil mixture.

As it turns out, of course, the actual active constituents of mumia were a mixture of the Seven Sacred Oils used in the process of mummification, which were literally poured over the heads and linen wrapped bodies of the deceased, pooling and hardening over time on the bottoms of the sarcophagus or coffin like black tar. From the temple inscriptions we know that all seven of these oils together contain no less than 18 different ingredients, all with their own healing properties - the predominant being wood pitch, pistachia resin, and bitumen. Not having access to the recipes and ingredients for these oils at that time (these were not discovered until the late 1800’s), the only source for the early Persian and Roman physicians was from the bottoms of ancient Egyptian coffins.

Mumia later became a virtually omnipotent medical panacea for a broad spectrum of diseases, based not only on it’s bituminous botanical substances, but upon the rather strange belief in the magical healing power of ancient Egyptian mummies. This made it a much sought after, hard-to-come-by and pricey medication only affordable by the rich, and it represents a very peculiar facet of historical medicinal cannibalism.

And so, “mumia” became a regular component of the pharmacists’ stock in trade for hundreds of years, particularly in the Middle Ages. Sadly, an unknown number of Egyptian mummies ended up in the digestive tracts of wealthy 17th century Europeans, and countless tombs were desecrated in Egypt as a result. An inevitable shortage of sources for authentic mummies from Egypt eventually resulted in the production of fakes, including dried human bodies lacking the actual active ingredients, excepting perhaps bitumen tar.

With scientific breakthroughs of the 19th century and the resulting research-oriented approach to medicine, people gradually abandoned such questionable practices in favor of remedies and procedures whose beneficial effects can be scientifically proven. Consumption of mummy-based medicines finally became a thing of the past after the 1920’s. There are still bottles to found in antique stores from the 1800’s labeled “Mumia” that have the residue intact - in US pharmacies it was simply labeled “Mummy”.

The fact that it still appeared in German medical catalogs as late as the early 20th century proves that the efficacy of mumia was not purely superstitious magic and it’s placebo effect alone. It appears that in outlawing it’s use, modern medicine threw the baby out with the bathwater, or rather, they threw the mumia out with the mummy. For an example of this, visit this website from the German pharmaceutical company Merck, which once collected and sold real Egyptian mumia. While they are quick to mention the superstitious beliefs surrounding the panacea, they barely mention the ingredients of the sacred oils, much less their medical properties. https://www.emdgroup.com/en/stories/powdered-mummies-used-as-medicine.html

The ancient Egyptians would be humorously horrified at the thought of silly future people ingesting ground up mummies, when the actual healing properties were in the anointing oils themselves. Meanwhile it is highly unlikely that dessicated human body ingredients are medicinal in any way. The ancient Egyptians sure didn’t think so, as there is no record whatsoever of such “medical cannibalism” in the surviving medical papyri, although there is plenty documentation of the benefits of their Seven Sacred Oils.

We guarantee that our mumia contains no human body substances, but rather is a mixture of all of our Seven Sacred Oils in one bottle, and is likely very nearly identical in makeup to the coveted mumia that the Persians once used - minus the mummy, of course!

Try a 2 ml sample for yourself, and be amazed at its powerful healing and anti-inflammatory properties on wounds, sores, spider and insect bites and rashes!

Shipped in amber glass bottles with dropper seal, filled by volume. Bottle sizes are: 2 ml, 7.5 ml, 15 ml and 30 ml. (1 ml has been discontinued for now due to leakage in shipments).

Please note that this fragrant oil is mixed in a moringa carrier oil at around a 30% perfumers dilution ratio, and is primarily intended for topical use on skin and hair. As such, it may not work well in some water-based essential oil diffusers which only dilute the scent more. Wandering Stars recommends using only pure essential oils or absolutes, such as our Blue Lotus Absolute, in water based units dedicated to a particular scent as fragrances may remain persistent despite cleaning, leading to cross-contamination of scents. Even so, this fragrant oil does work well in diffusor jewelry or on blotter paper for direct whiffing, and especially with air pump style atomizing electronic diffusors where you can exchange 15 ml oil bottles, uptake straws, and connectors for each scent. Visit Diffusor World for highly rated atomizers.

(Note: the alabaster bottle pictured once contained a bitumen-based oil based upon analysis of residue found inside, and dates from Ptolemaic Egypt circa 300 BCE. It is unique in that it has both demotic and cuneiform inscriptions along with the hieroglyphs. We are currently negotiating with Egyptian alabaster carvers across from the Theban Necropolis in the West Bank, Luxor, to create reproductions of these jars for our Wandering Stars customers… stay tuned!”

For more information visit our article About Mumia.

Medical Disclaimer: Our expertise lies in incense making, essential oil blends, and skin/hair ointments. Information contained on these pages is to the best of our knowledge factual, and presented solely for your edification and enjoyment. Wandering Stars cannot provide medical advice as we are not health professionals. Before ingesting anything that is not food, we strongly suggest seeking counsel from a licensed health practitioner.