Between the 15 th and 18 th centuries, mummies were ground into powder and sold as a cure-all drug that could be put on injuries or taken internally. The trend died out when the supply of mummies dried up and the public became aware that suppliers had been using the bodies of recently-dead subjects instead of ancient ones. Scientists of earlier eras were forced to unwrap the mummy s bandages to examine the bodies. This was bad for the mummies and potentially bad for the scientists. Researchers have recently shown that mold spores found on some mummies are still active and able to cause serious disease.
Scientists now unwrap mummies only while they are wearing protective gear.
In fact, they prefer not to unwrap the mummies at all, but to examine them through the use of X-rays and CAT scans that do no damage to the ancient figures. The Egyptians not only mummified people, but animals as well. A favorite pet might be mummified to follow his master into his tomb and accompany him into the afterlife. The Egyptians usually stopped short of entombing a man s servants with him, but they did create tiny model figures of servants that were thought to be able to continue to serve the man after his death. While it seems that all the tombs of the Egyptian kings have been found and their mummies plundered or put in museums, there may be thousands of mummies of lessor nobles or common people still entombed in places in Egypt.