A Morbid Trade
In the 1800s, a strange and morbid trade emerged on the streets of Egypt, where street vendors openly peddled ancient Egyptian mummies as if they were everyday commodities. These vendors would casually line up mummies on street corners, and passersby, often English tourists, would purchase them as peculiar souvenirs or oddities to display back home.
The macabre practice of selling mummies reflects the widespread fascination with Egyptology and the mysteries of ancient Egypt during that era. While these mummies held historical and cultural significance, they were treated as curiosities rather than relics of a rich civilization. Today, such practices would be considered ethically and legally unacceptable, but in the 19th century, it was a grim testament to the Victorian fascination with the exotic and the macabre.