The northern highlands in the Philippines are home to the Ibaloi people. Their life is practically no different from their neighbors: working in rice fields, a well-established way of life, if not for one "but". A couple of hundred years ago, these Filipinos did not bury the dead and did not give them fire. By smoking, they made mummies from them, which have been perfectly preserved to this day.
Ibaloi people
Photo: allday.com
Ibaloi mummies are completely different from those that modern inhabitants are used to seeing in history books or on television screens. And the process of mummification among the Filipinos was very different from the Egyptian technology.
Mummy of a deceased ancestor in a fetal position
Photo: allday.com
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To begin with, the dying person was fed plant food, which cleansed the body, and then watered abundantly with salt water (salt led to dehydration). After a person went to another world, his body was completely dipped in a saline solution and folded in half. According to legend, a person should die in the same position as at birth, that is, in the position of an embryo.
A terrifying tradition from across the globe
Photo: allday.com
The gnarled body was placed in the sun and a fire was made so that the smoke gradually dried and smoked the outer shell. Sometimes this process could take from several weeks to six months. The insides, like the Egyptians, the Filipinos did not take out. They were also dried. To do this, a pipe was inserted into the mouth of the future mummy, through which the men of the tribe blew tobacco smoke. After rehydration, the body was rubbed with special herbs, placed in coffins resembling troughs, and taken to caves hidden from prying eyes.
Mummies are not made from all deceased tribesmen
Photo: musei-smerti.ru
For the first time, smoked mummies were discovered in caves in the Philippines at the beginning of the 20th century. Today, the ibalois, for a small fee, are happy to accompany everyone to the caves, where they show them their ancestors. They take the mummies out of the coffins and then put them back. It's amazing how the mummies have not yet deteriorated from private removal.