The paint colour "mummy black" and "mummy brown" (also called "egyptian brown") used to be made with the ashes of real egyptian mummies back in the 19th century.
Not all artists at the time were aware of this, and when one Edward Burne-Jones learnt that he was painting with thousand-year-old corpses, he held a ceremonial burial for his tube of paint, fearing hauntings from the vengeful mummies.