According to common information, in the era of the active development of the treasures of ancient Egyptian civilization, the British found practical use of numerous mummies. We checked if it was so.

Here's what Peter Samples writes in his book "A world created by chemists: from a philosophical stone to graphene": “... the number of mummies of people and animals found in modern Egypt is so large that in the first in Africa the Cairo - Alexandria of the steam locomotive in Africa, the first time drowned these mummies! They were dug up or extracted from the caves of several million. ”

Similar information can be read in the book by Ari Turunen "World History of arrogance, chew and snobbery"Where such a practice is given as a visual example of the embodiment of a stereotype about the "superiority of European civilization." Dmitry Puchkov (goblin) in his cycle spoke about the unworthy behavior of the English colonialists "Intelligence". This information is popular in social networks.

How It is known, mummification in ancient Egypt was an ordinary procedure associated with the religious representations of local residents: the immortality of man depended on the material preservation of his body. However, it does not mean cheap and simple. Specialists removed the brain, placed internal organs in ritual vessels, treated the body with a napron (type of soda) and wrapped in linen bandages and veils, under which they laid religious texts and amulets - the process took up to 70 days. The case concerned not only people: in Egypt, more than a million mummies of animals revered by the sacred - mainly cats, as well as bulls, crocodiles and ibis.

And although the professional study of Egyptian mummies Started Only in 1901, almost any visitor to Cairo could feel their widespread presence. To do this, it was not necessary to open the tombs, it was enough just to walk along the streets:

The Egyptian sells mummies on the street. 1875

Since ancient times, both the hosts and the main ethnic group have managed to change more than once in Egypt. Therefore, it is not surprising that by the middle of the 19th century the dried remains of local natives did not carry the previous sacred meaning for the inhabitants of the country and unceremonious treatment of them did not cause thoughts of blasphemy. Website Mentalfloss.com gives nine examples of using mummies, some of which can give a head start even our main topic. Namely: raw materials for medicines, the basis for paper, an object of entertainment at a secular party (deploying mummies), the basis of painting paint, a decorative interior item, a stage requisite, a portable exhibit for collecting funds and fake remains of other people. The latest practice was remembered by a rather courier case when the fact that one and a half centuries was officially considered the ashes of Jeanne d'Arc in 2007 it turned out The human rib and the femoral bone of a cat is the times of the Egyptian late kingdom.

And since 1848, newspapers spoke about the new use of the Egyptian mummies. February 1 small American edition Wachusett Star reportedthat the European powers intend to build a railway in Egypt as part of the ground route to India, and since “the fuel in this part of the world is very little to circumvent the problem, one daring politician suggested using the mummies that are filled with local mysterious giant tombs for the movement of steam locomotives.” It was further said that before using the mummies, the bandages were removed and sent to France for the production of newspapers (one of the above, but unproven applications of mummies - raw materials for paper).

The next time the newspapers turned to the sensational topic in 1859, when from Articles In Syracuse Daily Standard, readers learned that mummies were used "at the first launch of a steam locomotive" in Egypt and that "the supply of mummies is almost inexhaustible." Similar information in the same year was printed in the journal Scientific American With reference to the Foreign Correspondent, although, most likely, the basis was the previous article, because all the details in two notes coincided.

And finally, ten years later, the most famous mention of the use of mummies as steamed fuel appeared. The famous American musician writer Mark Twain in the “Egyptian” chapter of his book “simpleton abroad, or the path of new pilgrims”, dedicated to his journey through the countries of the Old World, reported:

“I will not talk about the local railway, for it is no different from any other railway, I can say that the mummies of three thousand years ago, bought by tons, or even whole cemeteries, and that the wicked driver sometimes shouts:“ They disappear, these plebeians, these plebeians, and heat from them are not at a penny! Throw back the pharaohs "."

Below was given Remarka: “Gone to me as a fact. For what I bought, for that I am selling. I personally are ready to believe this. I can believe anything. "

This is not a very serious book, the total circulations of which are currently calculated by millions, and has probably become the main source of the spread of a curious legend. However, detailed study On this topic, conducted by the archaeologist Chris Elliott from the University of Southampton, shows that the supply of coal from Britain to India through the Suez Isthmus (the channel was opened only in 1869) was established long before the launch of the first local railway line of Cairo -Alexandria (1856). Coal stations for servicing marine trade between the empire and its colony actively worked in Port Said and Suez, and even in the 1920-1930s, when oil for fuel became the main raw materials, the supply of former “black gold” to these lands continued on an industrial scale. The locomotives and rails for the railways of Egypt were supplied from England, so it would be logical to add coal to them. Moreover, as Ellitt notes, the driver and engineers should have known about the historical (if not monetary) value of mummies and could report this to the authorities in the case of precedents. The practice of one and a half century ago (quite civilized times) was supposed to be reflected somewhere else, except for a few stable American newspapers. So rumors about the use of mummies as a fuel in British steam locomotives are most likely fiction.