Mummy
Dummy 4: Mummy Magicians
In the
past, some mummy dummies thought they were quite
clever. They believed that people would flock anywhere to see
a mummy. They also thought they would become rich. So some people
became "mummy magicians"
and conjured up mummies out of thin air.
For
example, many Native American mummies were supposedly
discovered in the area surrounding Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. Some,
those from Mammoth Cave itself,
really were found there; others, reported by owners of nearby caves,
were clearly hoaxes. But these false
mummies were often advertised in hopes that large numbers of people
would pay money to visit the smaller caves. The author Angelo
George wrote that one cave was
said to hold the mummies of a man and woman
dressed
in Roman costume, and each holding in the arms a child
— the man one of 10 years, and the woman a babe of 1 or
2 years. ... A
petrified monkey, as perfect in shape as if alive,
was [also] found in the cave.
Other
caves in the area reportedly had mummies and Egyptian
pyramids. It must not have taken too long for people to realize that
Roman and Egyptian mummies were
hardly native to American caves. And some of the "clever" mummy magicians were obviously disappointed.
