Green wooden herb box with lid, cylindrical, empty, used for mummia ver, European, 1601-1800

Green cylindrical wooden herb box with lid to contain mummia (powdered mummy), now empty, European, 1601-1800. The word "mummy" evolved from the false belief that Persian bitumen, known as mummia, was the substance used to embalm ancient cadavers, that bitumen was thought to have curative properties and that the powder made from the ground up mummies could cure various illnesses. In the 16th century, a trade in powdered mummia began, supplied from mummified body parts and tissues shipped in bulk from Egypt