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> there were so many mummies around from Egypt that they were used as fuel in some cases Likely, but it seems they aren’t 100% sure of that at the Encyclopædia
by Someone 3y ago
> there were so many mummies around from Egypt that they were used as fuel in some cases
Likely, but it seems they aren’t 100% sure of that at the Encyclopædia Brittanica. https://www.britannica.com/list/7-surprising-uses-for-mummies https://www.britannica.com/list/7-surprising-uses-for-mummie...:
“It was claimed by author Mark Twain that mummies had been used as fuel for locomotives. In his 1869 travel book called The Innocents Abroad, Twain describes the first railroad in Egypt. Because of the lack of trees and the price of coal, Twain claims that the Egyptians used mummies instead. He wrote, “[The fuel used] for the locomotive is composed of mummies three thousand years old, purchased by the ton or by the graveyard for that purpose.””
Also, FTA: “we know the British imported mummies and bones from Egypt on an industrial scale”
- worthless-trash 3y agoTo use on the english trains ?
- seabass-labrax 3y agoIf you're seriously asking, I highly doubt so. Great Britain has massive deposits of relatively clean, accessible coal. They are mostly in Wales but also in England and Scotland. Therefore there would be little reason to import any fuel from Egypt; over that distance, the steam ship would probably consume as many mummies as it was carrying.
- worthless-trash 3y agoI highly doubt so too, which is why I'm wondering why they would import it en-masse. What value would mass remains have ?
- seabass-labrax 3y agoArchaeology was a booming field in Britain throughout the 19th century, being a fashionable pursuit for predominantly upper-class individuals. Many private collections were started, and most of the great museums were founded during this time. Egyptology in particular struck a chord with European society at the time. Just have a look at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_museums_with_Egyptian_mummies_in_their_collections https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_museums_with_Egyptian_... to get an rough idea of the extent of Egypt-mania in Britain; the 'UK' section dwarfs the others! So although that quote is rather vague, I strongly suspect that it is simply referring to the large quantity of Egyptian artefacts that were being excavated and moved to museums in Britain, especially after Epypt was annexed by and amalgamated into the British Empire in 1882.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- angiosperm 3y agoWe know, anyway, that they used untold millions of cat mummies for locomotive fuel. In other news, Egyptians mummified millions of cats.
- DonHopkins 3y agoNow we make cat drones. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lW0hyg4kfaw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lW0hyg4kfaw
- u32480932048 3y agoCambyses II would be proud. https://short-history.com/cats-caused-the-ancient-egyptians-to-lose-war-442c61234ec2 https://short-history.com/cats-caused-the-ancient-egyptians-...
- 082349872349872 3y agoSo maybe the human mummies were just there to provide for the cat mummies needs, in the afterlife?