Ancient Egyptians believed that mummifying a king’s body was key to his ascent into the realm of the gods. The preserved body, known as the Ach, a luminous spirit, was thought to begin this journey by entering the sarcophagus, seen as the womb of Nut, the mother goddess of the sky.

The belief in the enduring power of human remains has been deep in global history.

In the West, reverence for the relics of Christian saints took place early in the Church. Some of the most extraordinary examples include what was believed to be the foreskin of Jesus and the severed head of Saint John the Baptist.

By the 19th century, European scientists had begun preserving and studying body parts of famous individuals — from Mohammed’s beard and Buddha’s teeth to Adolf Hitler’s jaw.

Following the Napoleon

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