When a body was mummified in ancient Egypt, its organs were placed in canopic jars and its body was filled with natron before being wrapped in bandages to dry. The resulting preserved remains have provided researchers with insights into ancient techniques for keeping a body intact for millennia. Although the body (and its parts) survive, the person’s idenтιтy and history are often lost to time.
Imperialist explorers collected mummy feet as souvenirs and keepsakes in ancient Egyptian tombs and looted artifacts from North Africa. Human remains did not always receive the respect they deserved. Some mummies were unwrapped for public entertainment and others were used as fertility amulets.
This foot was probably cut off to facilitate transportation and display of the curiosity. Interestingly, a mummy’s foot was the centerpiece of an 1840 Gothic tale тιтled “The Mummy’s Foot.” The story centers on a collector who obtains a mummy’s foot from a curio shop with plans to use it as a paperweight.
Although the main character of the story describes the foot as something similar to a foot of Venus or polished bronze, he quickly realizes that it is the foot of a mummy:
I was surprised by its lightness. It was not a metal foot, but soapstone, an enamelled foot, a mummy’s foot. Upon examining it even more closely, the very grains of the skin and the almost imperceptible lines imprinted on it by the texture of the bandages became noticeable. The toes were thin and delicate, the nails pure and transparent, as if they had never been in contact with the muddy reeds of the Nile, and the sole, barely scratched by the crossing of the bandages, offered an almost ideal lightness: the grace of a bird’s foot. The sole, barely scratched by the crossing of the bandages, almost seemed to have never touched the bare ground, and was only contaminated by walks on the dust of the Nile reeds and the softest carpets of the palaces. The big toe, slightly separated from the rest, offered a charming old-fashioned contrast to the other toes, and rotated like an aerial paw.
The man takes the foot home, but is plagued by dreams that take him across the continent to Egypt, where he meets the foot’s owner, Princess Hermonthis, the daughter of a pharaoh, who is not very happy that he his foot has been stolen and used. like paperweight.
He promises to return her foot, but in exchange asks for the princess’s hand in marriage. However, how come he would never accept any of that, reasoning that Hermonthis is almost 30 centuries older than the man? Instead, she offers him a statue. When the man wakes up the next morning, it seems that everything has been a dream, except that the foot on his desk has been replaced by the same figurine that held the statue of his dreams.
While this story was never intended for anything more than entertainment, it may well have spurred the actions of true collectors in Europe. Our mummy foot is believed to have belonged to a British doctor in the 19th century. Dating back to sometime in the 12th or 13th dynasties, there is also another curious possibility.
Around the same time, a region known as Armant was an important part of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt. In the city’s ruins, archaeologists have discovered fragments of a statue showing only the feet of the city-state’s princess. It is believed that it served as a status symbol for an upper-class citizen, but it looks quite 𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚜𝚙𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚗 𝚝. 𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚛𝚎𝚈 𝚘𝚙𝚎. It is said that our mummy foot belonged to a British doctor in the 19th century. Dating back to sometime in the 12th or 13th dynasties, there is also another curious possibility.
Around the same time, a region known as Armant was an important part of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt. In the city’s ruins, archaeologists have discovered fragments of a statue showing only the feet of the city-state’s princess. It is believed to have served as a status symbol for an upper-class citizen, but it seems quite possible that it stimulated the actions of true collectors in Europe. Be sure to let us know what you think in the comments below, and we’ll let you know if a statue appears in its place.
