“Mummies are far more than they appear to be at first sight. Thanks to them, we have been able to increase our understanding of Pharaonic civilisation and the people who created and lived in it.” But it is not only a matter of pharaohs: there are millions of mummies – so many that, in the Middle Ages, they were exported to Europe by the hundreds of thousands for medicinal purposes, and in the 19th century were used as fuel on the railways. These mummies enable us to understand, not only the beliefs and myths of the Egyptians, but also their way of life. This both serious and informative book deals with the pyramids and royal tombs, the tombs of the poor, rituals and amulets, but also the lies about legends of supposed curses and traps, and the forgeries of smugglers of Egyptian antiquities.