Edinburgh’s 17 Mini Mummies: A 17th-Century Enigma

Until now, scientists are still looking for a solution to the mystery of these microscopic mummies in Edinburgh…

When talking about mummies, the first thing that comes to mind is usually Egypt, the homeland of the pharaohs with the great art of mummification in ancient times. However, in the legendary land of Arthur’s Seat in the United Kingdom, there are also extremely famous and mysterious mummies. These are not mummies of kings or humans, but rather they are mummies of strange effigies…

Arthur’s Seat is a hilly area located to the east of Edinburgh Castle, in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland. This is one of the legendary places in the United Kingdom: it is said that this place is home to the legendary Camelot Castle, owned by the famous King Arthur.

In 1836 one of the discoveries that shocked the Western world occurred here. The London Times, of July 20 of that year, described a strange event as follows: “Five boys, while hunting hares on Arthur’s Seat, discovered a strange cliff. Somehow, they entered a small cave and found 17 tiny mummies. Each mummy measures only 3 to 4 inches long (about 10 cm).

The five boys were completely stunned and amazed. Completely different from the common notion of large mummies wrapped in white bandages, the Arthur’s Seat mummies are very small in size. More precisely, there are 17 mummies in the form of wooden effigies with 17 corresponding coffins. Each mannequin has meticulous and unique costumes, just like a real person.

According to the description, these 17 mummies are arranged in 3 horizontal rows, 2 rows with 8 mummies and 1 row with 1 mummy. This is a confusing layout structure that has never been seen before in history.

Although there were many questions surrounding the mummies at the time of their discovery, it is unclear why this story gradually fell into oblivion for more than 60 years.

At first, even the five children who discovered it were not very interested in what they found. An article published in the London Times in 1836 reported that these children burned that small wooden coffin immediately after finding them.

Fortunately, a professor named Ferguson “except” those coffins. He brought them home and was the first to open the lids of the small chests, discovering mummies inside.

At this time, there are no longer historical documents recording the investigation of 17 tiny mummies. According to locals, these mummies in turn became collections of some individuals and were inadvertently lost. The story of the little mummy of Arthur’s Seat Hill gradually fell into oblivion.

In 1901, 65 years after the discovery, tiny mummies reappeared. This time, 8 of the 17 coffins were found and donated to the National Museum of Scotland. This was also the time when the first serious research into the secrets of tiny mummies was carried out.

Through research, all the mummies were made of wood carved with knives. They all have one thing in common: they all lost an arm. According to scientists, it is likely that these mummies lost an arm so that the author who made them could easily sew, dress and disguise them.

Furthermore, of the eight remaining corpses, only three had their edges trimmed and rounded. Archaeologists have since concluded that at least two people created these mummies together.

Furthermore, through the research of two experts, Simpson and Menefee, into the mummy’s clothing, they confirmed that these works could not have been created before 1812, the time when cotton replaced linen in Scotland.

Many hypotheses have been proposed to explain the origin of these microscopic mummies. Local people believe that they are magical effigies in the service of a certain witch. Or simply, they are amulets that Scottish sailors made before going to sea. But both opinions are more spiritual and lack authenticity.

The theory supported by some intellectuals is that the mummies above belong to two notorious murderers from Scotland in the early 19th century: Burke and Hare. Consequently, these two murderers killed 17 innocent people in the 1820s, causing terror in this country.

The number 17 matches exactly the original number of mummies on Arthur’s Seat hill. However, the above hypothesis still faces some objections from many people. The reason is that among Burke and Hare’s 17 victims there were 12 women, but the mummy costumes were mostly men’s clothing.

To this day, the mystery behind Edinburgh’s tiny mummies remains unsolved. And furthermore, the whereabouts of those 9 missing mummies are still unknown…