In Iran, the legend about Shah Firidun, who lived in ancient times, is widespread. Once the shah was hunting in the north of the country, in the highlands of Dorob. Chasing a gazelle, he fired an arrow at that, which hit the animal in the back. Bleeding, the wounded gazelle nevertheless ran to a high rock and disappeared into a dark cave.
After some time, the shah hunted again in the same area. Suddenly he saw on a green hillock of a goitered gazelle with an arrow sticking out of its back. This was the same gazelle that the ruler had wounded on the previous hunt. But the animal gave the impression of being completely healthy! The astonished Shah ordered his servants to hobble the gazelle and bring him to him.
The sovereign personally examined the wound on the animal's body. It was covered with some dark substance that felt like wax to the touch. Shah ordered his wise men to carefully examine the cave. They found that the inner vaults of the dungeon were covered with some kind of dark waxy coating, drops of which seeped from the depths of the mountain through numerous cracks.
This raid, the sages reported to the Shah, lick wounded animals and peck at sick birds, which makes their wounds heal, diseases pass, and broken bones quickly grow together. The Shah realized what a priceless treasure was revealed to him by chance. He assigned a guard to the cave and appointed a special minister, whose duty was to scrape the black plaque off the rocks and deliver it to the palace.
So, according to legend, a unique remedy was discovered, called "mumiyo". In the Middle Ages, the popularity of mumiyo as a medicinal drug reached its peak. It was believed that "mountain wax" heals almost all diseases - from mental anguish to paralysis and broken bones. Naturally, the cost of the substance became fabulous.
In the same historical period, events took place as a result of which the words "mummy" and "mummy" actually became synonyms. The fact is that the Arabs, who conquered Egypt in the 7th century, began to open up ancient phobnites with the purpose of plunder, in which the embalmed bodies of the dead were located. It quickly became clear that the mummification of these bodies used mummy, honey, resin, tar, and a number of other substances.
But there were few real mummies, and the demand for them, meanwhile, was growing rapidly. As always happens in such situations, there were many falsifiers of all kinds, who established the uninterrupted production of "real Egyptian mummies." They were made, as a rule, from the bodies of killed slaves, as well as people specially kidnapped for this purpose. The corpses were treated with bitumen and dried in the hot Egyptian sun, after which they went on sale under the guise of "mummies from the royal tombs."
The lion's share of the mumiyo, which was then on the pharmaceutical market, was a gross fake. Naturally, serious doctors forbade their patients to use this drug of dubious origin. As a result, the real mumiyo also suffered, which was undeservedly deleted from the medical arsenal for a rather long period. And only gradually the literal analogy between mummies and mummies was eliminated from public consciousness.
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In the 20th century, interest in mumiyo increased sharply again. Mumiyo was found in many regions of the planet - in Afghanistan, India, Burma, Nepal, Mongolia, Tibet, even in Antarctica - on Queen Maud Land!
More than 60 mumiyo deposits are known in Central Asia alone. This unique organic compound is also found in Transbaikalia and Altai.
In the mountains of Kyrgyzstan there is a cave where the mummy flows and drips from the limestone vaults, like stearin from a burning candle. The entire ceiling in this cave is dotted with conical dark icicles about two centimeters long, and the air here is saturated with a pungent specific smell.
But the Trans-Baikal mumiyo - brakshun - is found among hard-to-reach rocks in the form of shapeless growths with streaks of resinous mass. The weight of such finds sometimes reaches 15 kg.
In Turkmenistan, in steep outcrops of Jurassic limestones, a resinous substance of a red brick color is found. According to local legend, this is the blood of a brave batyr, which still oozes over the rocks. These frozen drops are considered one of the varieties of mumiyo and are called kimiyo.
Scientists have found that this biologically active product contains 25-27 different elements, the same amount as natural asphalt. It is curious that all varieties of mumiyo have a similar qualitative chemical composition, and differ only in quantitative ratios of elements. In particular, mumiyo contains oxides of potassium, calcium, phosphorus, as well as strontium and beryllium, that is, the necessary "spare parts" for the restoration of bone tissue.
The mountain elixir of life is able to protect the body even from those microbes that are not affected by penicillin. Many experts are inclined to conclude that mumiyo is a kind of natural alloy of mineral, plant and animal substances.
But the secret of this alloy is still far from being solved.