Mummies, Myth and Magic: In Ancient Egypt Book

In this definitive book of the mummy and the Egyptian way of death, Christine El Mahdy reveals how the practice of mummification arose, how it was perfected, and how it came to play a central part in the ancient Egyptian quest for eternal life. In medieval times mummies were crushed to become aphrodisiacs; a hundred years ago the 'unwrapping of a mummy from Egypt' was billed as an entertainment; and the twentieth century has created its own superstition in the fabled 'Curse of the Pharaohs'. Yet the present century has also witnessed the birth of the first truly scientific studies of mummies, culminating in the major projects currently under way all round the world.