Around the year 1000 Europeans believed that dried mummies had miraculous healing powers. Hundreds of thousands of mummies were dug up and sent to apothecaries where they were ground to powder. They were used to treat everything from concussions to poisoning. 
 
 

These facts were found in the book Mummies, Tombs, and Treasure: Secrets of Ancient Egypt, Lila Perl, Scholastic Inc, USA 1996