The mummification treatment and wrapping of the corpse to preserve the body for eternity was practiced in ancient Egypt for nearly four thousand years. Many mummies managed to survive intact today, but there are also dozens of fakes dating back to the “mummy mania” era that exploded after Napoleon’s 1798 expedition to Egypt. In the US and Britain especially, public unwrappings of ancient remains were a popular “afternoon tea” spectacle, with onlookers sometimes paying handsomely to see what was inside.