Mummies

Type: Concept

As of November 2026, Mummies has been mentioned in one podcast episode on The Rest Is History (Feb 2026). Highlights Inca political-religious continuity: dead emperors remain present in palaces and ceremonies; Spaniards occupy these spaces amid ongoing ritual display.

A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay further if kept in cool and dry conditions. Some authorities restrict the use of the term to bodies deliberately embalmed with chemicals, but the use of the word to cover accidentally desiccated bodies goes back to at least the early 17th century.