‘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.