Guanche mummies
Encyclopedia
Guanches
Guanches is the name given to the aboriginal Berber inhabitants of the Canary Islands. It is believed that they migrated to the archipelago sometime between 1000 BCE and 100 BCE or perhaps earlier...
, the ancient inhabitants of the Canary Islands
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
(Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
) mummified their dead.
This practice was intended to preserve the body of the deceased through embalming techniques similar to those performed in other ancient civilizations. Its purpose, linked to their religious beliefs, was to protect the body and also to distinguish the social relevance. The method used by the aborigines of the island of Tenerife
Tenerife
Tenerife is the largest and most populous island of the seven Canary Islands, it is also the most populated island of Spain, with a land area of 2,034.38 km² and 906,854 inhabitants, 43% of the total population of the Canary Islands. About five million tourists visit Tenerife each year, the...
was more perfect, because their mummies are the best preserved and most famous of the islands and Spain.
Significantly Guanche mummification is in many respects similar to that practiced by the ancient Egyptians
Egyptians
Egyptians are nation an ethnic group made up of Mediterranean North Africans, the indigenous people of Egypt.Egyptian identity is closely tied to geography. The population of Egypt is concentrated in the lower Nile Valley, the small strip of cultivable land stretching from the First Cataract to...
. To preserve the bodies of corruption in the process took great care, body, and above all kept a special memory and honor the dead. Mummification blackbirds, as they called the early Spanish chroniclers of the "Fortunate Islands" (Canary Islands), was not in general use among the Guanche population, there are several processes that show some gradation in practice correspond to a funeral and social difference economic relationship between the different castes of society. Naturally, the mummies of their kings (Menceyes) were older than those receiving care in mummification. The Guanches as the ancient Egyptians often kept in the viscera of their king
King
- Centers of population :* King, Ontario, CanadaIn USA:* King, Indiana* King, North Carolina* King, Lincoln County, Wisconsin* King, Waupaca County, Wisconsin* King County, Washington- Moving-image works :Television:...
s "menceyes".
In 1933, the largest Guanche necropolis of the Canary Islands was found, the Guanche necropolis of Uchova in the municipality of San Miguel de Abona
San Miguel de Abona
San Miguel de Abona is the name of a municipality, town, and valley in the southeastern part of the island of Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands, and part of the province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. San Miguel de Abona is a suburb or a cluster of Tenerife Sur. The municipality is located in the...
in the south of the island of Tenerife
Tenerife
Tenerife is the largest and most populous island of the seven Canary Islands, it is also the most populated island of Spain, with a land area of 2,034.38 km² and 906,854 inhabitants, 43% of the total population of the Canary Islands. About five million tourists visit Tenerife each year, the...
. This cemetery was almost completely looted, it is estimated that between 74 and 60 contained Guanche mummies.
The Museum of Nature and Man (Archaeological Museum of Tenerife
Tenerife
Tenerife is the largest and most populous island of the seven Canary Islands, it is also the most populated island of Spain, with a land area of 2,034.38 km² and 906,854 inhabitants, 43% of the total population of the Canary Islands. About five million tourists visit Tenerife each year, the...
), Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Santa Cruz de Tenerife
Santa Cruz de Tenerife is the capital , second-most populous city of the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands and the 21st largest city in Spain, with a population of 222,417 in 2009...
, exhibits some of these mummies (Mummy of San Andrés
Mummy of San Andrés
The Mummy of San Andrés is a human mummy belonging to the Guanche culture .One of the best preserved Guanche mummies, it is a male of about 25 to 30 years partially covered with goatskin with 6 strips that surround it. The mummy was found in a cave in a ravine outside the village of San Andrés...
), which for centuries were the subject of collecting and scientific curiosity in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. The Museum of Nature and Man is a world reference in regard to preservation of mummies. The Museo Nacional de Antropología de Madrid
Museo Nacional de Antropología (Madrid)
The National Museum of Anthropology is a national museum of Spain, located in Madrid near the Parque del Buen Retiro and opposite Atocha railway station. It is considered the oldest anthropology museum in Spain, formally inaugurated on April 29, 1875 during the reign of Alfonso XII.-External...
presents a Guanche mummy is now claimed by the Cabildo of Tenerife
Cabildo de Tenerife
Cabildo de Tenerife is the governing body of the island of Tenerife , Spain. It was established on 16 March 1913 in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, in a session held by the City Council, it was at that time, the first corporation...
, after a few years ago made a law in the Canary Islands to return the canary heritage that is outside the archipelago.
External links
- http://www.webtenerifeuk.co.uk/Sobre-Tenerife/Historia/Los-guanches/LAS+MOMIAS+GUANCHES.htm?Lang=en&__utma=1.1130028283.1269771597.1269771597.1269771597.1&__utmb=1.1.10.1269771597&__utmc=1&__utmx=-&__utmz=1.1269771597.1.1.utmcsr=google|utmccn=%28organic%29|utmcmd=organic|utmctr=Momias%20guanches&__utmv=-&__utmk=116003718The Guanches' Mummies, Official Website of Tenerife Tourism Corporation - in English]
- World Funeral - Archaeological Museum of Tenerife on Youtube
- The mystery of the mummies. David E. Sentinella.
- Documents, looting and destruction of mummies canary in the XVIII, XIV and XX