They Called Us Savages Part 1: The Cannibalism at the Heart of European Medicine

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They Called Us Savages

While Europeans were calling Africans savages — their kings were drinking powdered human skulls mixed with chocolate.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

  • Identify the practice of corpse medicine in early modern Europe and explain its scope — including which social classes participated, which body parts were consumed, and over what time period the practice persisted
  • Describe the specific role of African mummies in European medicine, including how they were sourced, processed, and sold, and how the trade was sustained after Egypt banned mummy exports in the 1500s
  • Explain the term Mumia, its origins, and its documented presence in European pharmacies across England, France, Germany, and Italy from the 1400s through the 1700s
  • Analyze the contradiction between the European label of 'savage' applied to African peoples and the documented cannibalistic medical practices of European royalty, clergy, and scientists during the same period
  • Evaluate the historical significance of the fake mummy trade — including the confession of an Alexandrian dealer who produced forty fake mummies in a single batch — and explain what it reveals about European demand for African bodies
  • Assess how the erasure of European corpse medicine from mainstream historical education reflects the same pattern of selective historical memory documented throughout the Hotep Creations series

Key Vocabulary

  • Corpse Medicine — The practice of consuming human flesh, blood, bone, fat, or other bodily materials as medical treatment. Corpse medicine was widely practiced across Europe from the 1400s through the 1700s — not as a fringe or underground practice, but as mainstream medical treatment prescribed by licensed physicians and sold in licensed pharmacies. Participants included royalty, clergy, and scientists. [1][2][3]
  • Mumia — A pharmaceutical preparation made from ground Egyptian mummies, sold in apothecary shops across England, France, Germany, and Italy from the 1400s onward. Mumia was one of the most sought-after medicines in early modern Europe. The word derives from the Arabic mummiya, meaning bitumen or embalming material. [1][2][3][4]
  • Egyptian Mummies — The preserved remains of ancient Egyptians — predominantly African peoples — whose tombs were looted by European merchants and physicians beginning in the medieval period. Ground mummy powder was the primary ingredient in Mumia. The demand for mummies was so great that when Egypt banned their export in the 1500s, European merchants began producing counterfeit mummies from fresh corpses. [1][2][3]
  • Apothecary — A licensed pharmacy or druggist in early modern Europe. European apothecaries stocked Mumia and other corpse-derived medicines as standard pharmaceutical products. The presence of ground mummy powder on the shelves of licensed European pharmacies demonstrates that corpse medicine was not a fringe practice but a mainstream medical institution. [1][2][4]
  • Fake Mummy Trade — The production and sale of counterfeit Egyptian mummies by European and North African merchants after Egypt banned the export of genuine mummies in the 1500s. Counterfeit mummies were made from fresh corpses — executed criminals, plague victims, and enslaved people — dried, coated in resin, and sold as ancient Egyptian royalty. One dealer in Alexandria confessed he could produce forty fake mummies in a single batch. [1][2][3]
  • Corpse Medicine and Social Class — The practice of corpse medicine in early modern Europe was not limited to the poor or uneducated. European royalty consumed powdered human skull mixed with chocolate. Clergy participated. Licensed scientists prescribed and consumed corpse-derived medicines. The social breadth of the practice demonstrates that it was a feature of European elite culture. [1][2][3]
  • The Savage Label — The term used by Europeans to describe African, Indigenous, and other non-European peoples — implying barbarism, irrationality, and cultural inferiority. The application of this label was simultaneous with the widespread practice of corpse medicine among European elites. The contradiction between the 'savage' label and the documented reality of European cannibalistic medicine is the central argument of this lesson. [1][2][5]
  • Early Modern Europe — The historical period from approximately the 1400s to the 1700s — the same period during which the transatlantic slave trade, European colonization of Africa and the Americas, and the widespread practice of corpse medicine all occurred simultaneously. [1][2][3]
  • Bitumen — A black, tar-like substance used in ancient Egyptian embalming. The Arabic word mummiya originally referred to bitumen, and was later applied to mummified bodies because of their dark, resinous appearance after embalming. The term eventually became Mumia in European pharmacology. [4]
  • Corpse Medicine and African Bodies — The specific targeting of African mummies — the preserved remains of ancient African peoples — as the primary raw material for European corpse medicine is a dimension of this history that mainstream historical education has largely ignored. European demand for African bodies as medicine preceded and paralleled European demand for African bodies as labor. [1][2][3][5]

The Full Lesson

Part 1 — The Label and the Reality

While Europeans were calling Africans savages — their kings were drinking powdered human skulls mixed with chocolate. And that is not the worst of it. For over two hundred years — from the 1400s through the 1700s — Europeans routinely consumed human flesh, human blood, and human bone as medicine. Royalty. Priests. Scientists. All of them. [1][2][3]

This is not speculation. It is documented in European medical texts, pharmacy inventories, royal court records, and the published works of licensed physicians. Corpse medicine was not a fringe practice. It was mainstream European medical culture — prescribed by licensed doctors, sold in licensed pharmacies, and consumed by the most powerful people on the continent. [1][2][3][4]

"While Europeans were calling Africans savages — their kings were drinking powdered human skulls mixed with chocolate."

Part 2 — It Started With African Mummies

It started with African mummies. European doctors ground up Egyptian mummies — stolen directly from African tombs — and sold the powder in apothecary shops across England, France, Germany, and Italy. They called it Mumia. By the 1500s every well-stocked European pharmacy had it on the shelf. [1][2][3][4]

The word Mumia derives from the Arabic mummiya, meaning bitumen — the dark, tar-like embalming material that gave preserved mummies their distinctive appearance. European physicians prescribed Mumia for a wide range of conditions. The preserved remains of ancient African people — people whose civilization Europe would simultaneously claim never existed — were ground up and sold as medicine across the continent. [1][2][3][4]

"By the 1500s every well-stocked European pharmacy had it on the shelf."

Part 3 — When Egypt Said No

The demand was so high that when Egypt banned the export of mummies in the 1500s — European merchants started making their own. They took fresh corpses — executed criminals, plague victims, enslaved people — dried them out, coated them in resin, and sold them as ancient Egyptian royalty. [1][2][3]

One dealer in Alexandria confessed he could produce forty fake mummies in a single batch. Forty. The bodies of executed criminals and enslaved people — coated in resin, wrapped in linen, and shipped to European pharmacies as ancient African pharaohs. The demand for African bodies as medicine was so relentless that when real African mummies ran short, merchants manufactured substitutes from whatever bodies they could find — including the bodies of enslaved Africans. [1][2][3]

"One dealer confessed he could produce forty fake mummies in a single batch."

Part 4 — Royalty, Priests, and Scientists

This was not a practice of the poor or the desperate. European royalty consumed powdered human skull — mixed with chocolate to mask the taste. The King of England drank a preparation called The King's Drops — made from human skull dissolved in alcohol. Physicians across Europe prescribed human fat, human blood, and human bone marrow. [1][2][3]

These were the same people who were sending missionaries to Africa to civilize its people. The same people who were constructing legal and philosophical frameworks to justify the enslavement of African people on the grounds of their supposed savagery and sub-humanity. The same people who were calling African spiritual practices barbaric while grinding up African ancestors and swallowing them as pills. [1][2][3][5]

"The King of England drank human skull dissolved in alcohol. And called Africans savages."

Part 5 — The Erasure

This history is documented. It is not disputed by serious historians. It appears in peer-reviewed academic books published by major university presses. And it is almost entirely absent from the history curriculum taught in American, British, and European schools. [1][2][3]

The erasure is not an accident. A history in which European elites — the architects of colonialism, the builders of the slave trade, the authors of racial hierarchy — were simultaneously consuming African bodies as medicine is not a history that the educational systems those same elites built were designed to teach. [1][2][3][5]

"This history is documented. It is not disputed. And it is almost entirely absent from the curriculum."

Part 6 — The Contradiction

The word savage comes from the Latin silvaticus — of the forest. Europeans applied it to African, Indigenous, and other non-European peoples to construct a hierarchy in which European culture was civilized and everything else was primitive. They built an entire legal, religious, and scientific apparatus on that hierarchy — and used it to justify centuries of extraction, enslavement, and violence. [1][2][5]

And while they were building that apparatus — they were grinding up African ancestors and swallowing them whole. Real history. Real evidence. [1][2][3][5]

"They built a civilization on the label of savage. And consumed African bodies to sustain it."

Critical Thinking Discussion Questions

  1. The practice of corpse medicine in early modern Europe involved royalty, clergy, and licensed scientists — not just the poor or uneducated. [1][2][3] What does the social breadth of this practice reveal about how 'civilization' and 'barbarism' were actually defined in early modern Europe — and who got to define them?
  2. European merchants produced counterfeit mummies from the bodies of executed criminals, plague victims, and enslaved people — including enslaved Africans — to meet demand after Egypt banned mummy exports. [1][2][3] What does this reveal about how European demand for African bodies as medicine paralleled and intersected with European demand for African bodies as labor?
  3. This history is documented in peer-reviewed academic texts and is not disputed by serious historians — yet it is almost entirely absent from history curricula in the United States, United Kingdom, and Europe. [1][2][3][5] What does its absence reveal about how educational systems decide which documented historical facts are taught and which are not?
  4. European elites simultaneously labeled African spiritual and cultural practices as savage or barbaric while consuming human flesh, blood, and bone as medicine. [1][2][3][5] What does this contradiction reveal about the function of the 'savage' label — and about who it was designed to serve?
  5. The demand for African mummies as medicine was so great that merchants manufactured counterfeits when the genuine supply ran short. [1][2][3] What does this sustained, centuries-long demand for African bodies — first as medicine, then as labor — suggest about the relationship between European civilization and African bodies during this period?

Quiz — They Called Us Savages

Part A: Circle the best answer. Part B: Write in complete sentences.

Part A — Multiple Choice

  1. Approximately how long did the widespread practice of corpse medicine persist in Europe?
    A) About 10 years
    B) About 50 years
    C) Over two hundred years — from the 1400s through the 1700s
    D) It was only practiced during the Black Death
  2. What was Mumia?
    A) An ancient Egyptian burial ritual
    B) A pharmaceutical preparation made from ground Egyptian mummies, sold in European apothecary shops
    C) A type of chocolate drink consumed by African royalty
    D) A Latin term for the African continent
  3. Why did European merchants begin producing fake mummies in the 1500s?
    A) Because Egyptian mummies were too expensive to import
    B) Because Egypt banned the export of mummies and demand in Europe was too high to stop
    C) Because fake mummies were considered more medicinally potent
    D) Because Egyptian mummies were only available in Egypt
  4. According to the lesson, which groups of Europeans participated in corpse medicine?
    A) Only the poor and uneducated
    B) Only physicians and scientists
    C) Royalty, priests, and scientists — the full spectrum of European elites
    D) Only people in England
  5. What did one dealer in Alexandria confess about the fake mummy trade?
    A) That he had never sold a fake mummy
    B) That he could produce forty fake mummies in a single batch
    C) That fake mummies were ineffective as medicine
    D) That he only sold fake mummies to poor customers
  6. What were fake mummies made from according to the lesson?
    A) Clay and resin shaped to look like mummies
    B) Animal remains coated in bitumen
    C) Fresh corpses — executed criminals, plague victims, and enslaved people — dried and coated in resin
    D) Wax figures imported from Italy
  7. What is the central contradiction documented in this lesson?
    A) Europeans claimed to value African art while destroying African temples
    B) European elites called African peoples savage while simultaneously consuming human flesh, blood, and bone as medicine
    C) European scientists studied African history but refused to publish their findings
    D) European merchants traded with Africa while claiming Africans had no civilization

Part B — Short Answer

  1. The lesson documents that European royalty, clergy, and scientists consumed human flesh, blood, and bone as medicine from the 1400s through the 1700s — while simultaneously applying the label 'savage' to African peoples. Using at least two specific details from the lesson, explain what this contradiction reveals about how the 'savage' label functioned in early modern European culture.
  2. After Egypt banned the export of mummies in the 1500s, European merchants produced counterfeit mummies from the bodies of executed criminals, plague victims, and enslaved people. Using at least two specific details from the lesson, explain what this response to the ban reveals about the nature and scale of European demand for African bodies.
  3. This history is documented in peer-reviewed academic texts and is not disputed by serious historians — yet it is almost entirely absent from history curricula in the United States, United Kingdom, and Europe. Using at least two specific details from the lesson, explain why you think this documented history has been excluded from mainstream education — and what its inclusion would change about how we understand the colonial period.

Extension Activity

Trace the Origin: Research Richard Sugg's book Mummies, Cannibals and Vampires: The History of Corpse Medicine from the Renaissance to the Victorians (Routledge, 2011). Find and describe: (1) one specific example of a European monarch or head of state who consumed corpse-derived medicine, (2) one specific example of a licensed European physician who prescribed it, (3) one specific example of a corpse-derived medicine that was sold in European pharmacies. Then write two to three sentences explaining how the existence of this fully documented academic study — combined with its near-total absence from school curricula — illustrates the argument made in this lesson.

Sources & Footnotes

  1. [1] Sugg, Richard. Mummies, Cannibals and Vampires: The History of Corpse Medicine from the Renaissance to the Victorians. London: Routledge, 2011.
  2. [2] Noble, Louise. Medicinal Cannibalism in Early Modern English Literature and Culture. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.
  3. [3] Gordon-Grube, Karen. "Anthropophagy in Post-Renaissance Europe: The Tradition of Medicinal Cannibalism." American Anthropologist, 90(2), 1988.
  4. [4] Dannenfeldt, Karl H. "Egyptian Mumia: The Sixteenth Century Experience and Debate." Sixteenth Century Journal, 16(2), 1985.
  5. [5] Mills, Charles W. The Racial Contract. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1997.
  6. [6] Frayling, Christopher. "The House That Jack Built: Some Stereotypes of the Rapist in the History of Popular Culture." In Rape: An Historical and Cultural Enquiry, edited by Sylvana Tomaselli and Roy Porter. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1986.
  7. [7] Pettigrew, Thomas Joseph. A History of Egyptian Mummies. London: Longman, 1834.
  8. [8] Day, Jo. "Thinking Makes It So: Reflections on the Ethics of Displaying Egyptian Human Remains." Papers from the Institute of Archaeology, 2014.

Real history. Real evidence.

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