Perhaps the most eccentric of all scientific meetings, the World Congress on Mummy Studies brings together the latest findings of mummy experts from around the world. Who are these people, and what draws them to this morbid yet captivating field?

The Mummy Congress takes readers on a journey across five continents and over nearly 7,000 years to reveal how mummies have been venerated as saints, fought over by politicians, collected as artistic treasures, analyzed for cures to ancient diseases, investigated for clues to drug use and imitated by today's cosmetic and beauty industries. From the elaborately prepared child mummies of northern Chile to the preserved household pets of ancient Egypt, from the self-preservation regimens of nineteenth-century Japanese monks to the new crop of mummification services now being hyped on the Internet, this astounding book shows what mummies, and the people who study them, disclose about ourselves.

Mummies teach us about our fears of mortality and our dreams of eternal life, about the lives of our ancestors and about the possibilities for future generations.