Cigarette Card

Wills’s Cigarettes “Wonders of the Past” Cigarette Card #4 “Egyptian Mummy-cases”

Produced in 1926 by W. D. & H. O. Wills.

Issued by The Imperial Tobacco Company (of Great Britain & Ireland) Ltd.

Text on reverse of card reads:

“It is hard to realize the intense respect for their dead that led the ancient Egyptians to the gruesome expedient of mummification. They believed in a future resurrection and thought that the soul could return and reanimate a well-preserved body, and through it enjoy funeral offerings, etc., in the tomb. Mumunification consisted in removing the intestines, soaking the corpse for about 70 days in natron, wrapping it in bandages with quantities of spice and balsam, and enclosing the whole in a wooden casket adorned with the features of the deceased. These examples date from 1600 BC. (left) and 1200 B.C., and are to be seen in the British Museum.”