‘Mummify like an Egyptian’ – Egyptianizing Mummification ...©ndez-Rodríguez-Marc… ·...
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‘Mummify like an Egyptian’ – Egyptianizing Mummification in the Canary Islands By Daniel M. Méndez-Rodríguez The Canary Islands are a Spanish archipelago composed of eight islands in the Atlantic Ocean in the northwest coast of Africa near Morocco. Location of the Canary Islands. (Wikimedia Commons) Before the European conquest, these islands were inhabited by different indigenous groups of people who came – or more probably were carried – in antiquity from the north of Africa in not entirely clear circumstances. One of the most remarkable features of their culture was the funerary practice of artificial conservation of the bodies.
Transcript of ‘Mummify like an Egyptian’ – Egyptianizing Mummification ...©ndez-Rodríguez-Marc… ·...
‘MummifylikeanEgyptian’–EgyptianizingMummificationintheCanaryIslands
By Danie l M . Méndez -Rodr íguez
TheCanaryIslandsareaSpanisharchipelagocomposedofeightislandsintheAtlanticOceaninthe
northwestcoastofAfricanearMorocco.
Loca t ion o f the Canary I s lands . (Wik imedia Commons)
BeforetheEuropeanconquest,theseislandswereinhabitedbydifferentindigenousgroupsofpeople
whocame–ormoreprobablywerecarried–inantiquityfromthenorthofAfricainnotentirely
clearcircumstances.
Oneofthemostremarkablefeaturesoftheirculturewasthefunerarypracticeofartificial
conservationofthebodies.
Best preserved Guanche mummy. Museo Arqueo lóg ico Nac iona l , Madr id .
(Photograph by Danie l Méndez-Rodr íguez)
Mummif ied body . Museo de la Natura leza y la Arqueo log ía , Tener i fe .
(Wik imedia Commons)
ThiskindofmummificationintheCanaryIslandsisusuallycalledmirladoandhasbeenattestedin
threeoftheeightislands:Tenerife,GranCanariaandLaPalma.Elementsofthepracticeseemalmost
Egyptianintermsofobjectivesandmethods,butistherearelationship?
InformationabouttheCanarianmummificationcomesfromtwomaintypesofsources.Thefirstis
physicalanthropologysincetheendofthe1980sthroughthe20thcentury.Thesecondsourceis
accountsbymanyauthorssincethe15thcentury,whichprovideespeciallyvaluableinformation.
HereIfocusonthelatter,theinterestshownbymanyindividualsofdifferenthistoriccontextsand
professionalbackgrounds:priests,astronomers,merchants,explorers,naturalists,doctors,andmore.
Morethanseventyauthorshavewrittenaboutthemummiesfromtheendofthe15thcenturytothe
firsthalfofthe20thcentury.
DescriptionsoftheCanarianembalmingproceduresaddressmanydifferentaspects.Theembalmers
aredescribedasspecialistsdedicatedexclusivelytothisactivityandincludedbothmenandwomen,
withdivisionoflabordependingonthesexofthecorpsetobetreated.Theyweresaidtobea
separatecommunityoftheaboriginalsocietyregardedasoutcastsduetotheircontactwiththedead
bodies.
Perhapsthemostinterestinginformationisrelatedtothedifferentprocessesofthemirladoor
mummification.Theaccountsspecifiedtheplacewheretheprocedurewascarriedout;duration
(around15or20days);differentkindsofwashing;thecorpsepreparation,withinformationabout
thoraxandabdomeneviscerationifundertaken;bodymanipulationwiththeinsertionorthe
applicationofdifferenttypesofsubstancesofanimal,vegetaland/ormineralorigin(forexample:
ovicapridfat,heather,pinetreebark,astringentherbsandpumicestones);differentdrying
processes;andthewrapping,doneusingdifferentlayersofovicapidsskinsgirdedtightlywith
leatherthongs.
Mummywrapping made o f ov icapr id sk in . Museumo f the Ins t i tu to
Canar ias Cabrera P in to . (Photograph by Danie l Mendez -Rodr íguez)
Wrapped ske le ta l remain . Museo de la Natura leza y la Arqueo log ía ,
Tener i fe . (Wik imedia Commons)
Differentpracticesrelatedtothesocialstatusofthedeceasedastotheuseofcoffinsorcertain
funeraryequipmentaredescribed.Finally,theburialpractices,includingtheuseofcoffins,the
depositofthecorpsesandtheirposition(layingdown,sittingdownorstandingupagainstawall),
andthecustomofthebodiesorientationtothenorthinGranCanariaarealsodiscussed.Thefinal
restingplaceofthedeceasedwascommonlyinaccessiblecavesor,inthecaseofGranCanaria,
funerarytumuli.
Thetextsdiscussembalmingproceduresand/ormummies’descriptions.Theoriginoftheir
informationforthesetextswasdiverse:oraldatafromtheaborigines’descendantsorpeasants
(foundonlyexceptionallyintheoldesttexts,forexampleAlonsodeEspinosa’s1594account),and
alsothewriters’experiencevisitingindigenoussitesasburialcaves.
Alonso de Esp inosa pub l i ca t ion (1594) .
Theoverwhelmingmajorityoftheauthorsreliedonpreviousaccounts,bothmentioningand
omittingtheirsources.Textsprovidedinformationspecificallyaboutthemirladoitself,butalso,in
ordertoachieveacomparativeview,citedevidencefromclassicalantiquity.Theseaccounts
explainedtheembalmingproceduresofEgyptianmummificationusingHerodotus(5thcenturyBCE)
andDiodorusSiculus(1stcenturyBCE).
Informationtransmissionwhileeditingtextsduringcenturiesinvolvedprocessesofmodification,
addition,omission,and(re)elaboration.Comparativematerialswereadded,notbasedonknowledge
abouttheindigenousCanariansbutoninformationornotionsrelatedtotheEgyptianmummification
or,moregenerally,Egyptianculture.Thus,certaindescriptionsabouttheCanarianmummification
havebeenEgyptianizedoverthepastcenturies.Thishasleadedtomisconceptions,someofwhich
hasbeenacceptedandtransmittedwithoutcriticismbyscholarsevenuntilthepresentday.
Someofthesemisconceptionsincludetheconsiderationoftheembalmersaspriests,theirpositive
socialconsiderationandorganizationaldivisionoflabor,theuseofsaltfordesiccationandwashing,
andprobablymentionofremovalofthebrain.Thisprocedurehasbeencalledintoquestionsinceno
tracesofithasbeenfoundinanyCanarianembalmedbody.Therefore,itspresenceinthetextsmay
bealsoduetothecomparisonwiththeEgyptianprocedures.SpanishpriestJosédeVierayClavijo,
oneofthemainfiguresofthe18thcenturyEnlightenmentintheCanaryIslands,wastheresponsible
forsomeofthismisconception.
José de V iera y C lav i jo . (Wik imedia Commons)
Representa t ion o f a Guanche bur ia l cave in Harpe (1780) .
IwillfocusononespecificcaseofthisEgyptianizedviewofthemummificationofCanaryIslands.
Severalsubstancesarementionedduringthedescriptionoftheembalmingprocedures,buttheuse
ofsaltdoesnotappearinanytextbeforethe18thcentury.Atthebeginningofthe16thcentury,Juan
AbreuGalindo(ca.1594-1602)wrotethatcertainspecificpartsofthecorpseswerewashed
everydaytwicewithcoldwater:“…ycadadíaloslavabandosvecesconaguafríalaspartesdébiles,
sobacos,traslasorejas,lasingles,entrelosdedos,lasnarices,cuelloypulso.”[AnEnglishversionof
thistextwaslaterpublishedbythemerchantGeorgeGlas(1764):“…thentwiceadaytheywashed
theporouspartofthebody,viz.thearm-pits,behindtheears,thegroin,betweenthefingers,andthe
neck,withcoldwater…”].
AbreuGalindo’stextwaslaterusedandalmostcopiedliterallybyVierayClavijo(1772),buthe
surprisinglyaddedthesaltasaningredient.Wefoundtheexplanationforthisadditioninanotherof
hisworks,hisDictionaryofNaturalHistory.Hedefinedtheword‘natron’(anaturallyoccurring
chemicalsalt)andexplainedthatHerodotuswrotethattheEgyptiansuseditfortheembalmingof
theircorpses.Becauseofthis,hereasoned,perhapstheGuanchesalsousednatronfromTeide–the
highestmountainofTenerife–forthepreservationoftheirmummies.
Mount Te ide , Tener i fe , Spa in . (Wik imedia Commons)
VierayClavijohadnoevidencethattheaboriginesusedsaltbutsupposedtheydidbecauseofthe
informationwrittenbyHerodotus.
Manyauthorsdirectlyorindirectlyfollowedandcopiedhistext.Hissuppositionwasrapidly
widespreadinaninternationalcontextbytheFrenchnaturalistJeanBaptisteGenevièveMarcellin
BorydeSaintVincent(1803).Consequently,saltasasubstanceusedinCanaryIslands’
mummificationbecamereceivedwisdomandwasincludedinmanydescriptionsoflaterscholars–
almost20havebeenattested.Forexample,20thcenturyEgyptologistWarrenR.Dawsonstatedin
1927that“…Thewashingoftheinteriorofthebodyandtheuseofsaltencounteredamongthe
GuanchesaretypicallyEgyptian…”.
Inspiteofbeinganerrorintroducedinthe18thcentury,basedonanalogywiththeEgyptian
mummification,theroleofsaltinmirladocanstillbefoundevenin21stcenturypublications.Anin-
depthcomparativeanalysisofthetransmittedinformationsincethe15thcenturybasedontextual
criticismhasidentifiedthisandothersmistakes,additionsandreinterpretations,consciousornot,
thatcomparedthefunerarypracticesofpreservationofthedeceasedbodiesinEgyptandCanary
Islands.Byremovingthesemisconceptions,thelocalCanarianpracticesmaynowcomeintobetter
view.
DanielM.Méndez-RodríguezisalectureratEscuelaUniversitariadeTurismodeSantaCruzde
Tenerife(CanaryIslands,Spain).HeisalsodeputydirectoroftheArchaeologicalMissionofthe
UniversidaddeLaLagunaforthestudyandrestorationofTT209(Luxor,Egypt),and
epigraphistofprojectsinEgypt.
ForFurtherReading:
Méndez-Rodríguez,D.M.(forthcoming):“Thetransmissionofthedescriptionsaboutthe
mummificationintheCanaryIslands:betweentraditionandinnovation”,in:Athatatos.
ExtraordinaryWorldCongressonMummyStudies(SantaCruzdeTenerife,May21st-25th2018).
Méndez-Rodríguez,D.M.(forthcoming):“CanarianMummies,Egyptianperspectives”,in:Proceedings
oftheInternationalConferenceonComparativeMummyStudies(Hildesheim,April7-9th2016).
Méndez-Rodríguez,D.M.(2018):“EgyptianizingCanaryIslandsmummies”,AulaOrientalis.Revistade
EstudiosDelPróximoOrienteAntiguo,36(2):277–296.
