Mummy of Aikima in Wamena City, Papua Province
Indonesia holds tons of unique attractions for tourists. The Wamena City of Jayawijaya Regency is not an exception. It is the home of mysterious mummies, especially the one called the Aikima Mummy. As the name suggests, the mummy resides in Aikima Village in Kurulu Sub-District. Unlike Egypt’s mummies, this one doesn’t feature any bandages at all. Instead, the locals keep it that way and preserve it over time. They call it Wim Motok Mabel, actually. Due to the uniqueness, tourists keep coming to see and take photos of it directly. So, what does it look like?
About Wim Motok Mabel
In a nutshell, the locals keep maintaining Aikima Mummy or Wim Motok Mabel due to its sacredness. According to them, the mummy has the age more than 278 years! Instead of using a modern method, the locals use a traditional way in order to preserve it. Not to mention villagers keep it safely inside storage called “Honai”. They only take it out when many tourists come and want to see it directly. What about the figure? The mummy is in a squatting pose and he hugs his knees. The bones are black brownish and he wears several ornaments on the head and neck. Some tourists would be terrified when seeing it directly, without a doubt.
More about Mummy of Aikima
The most common reason to come and watch the Aikima Mummy is none other than photography. That means tourists don’t only see it directly, but they also want to take photos of it. Fortunately, villagers are friendly enough to let outsiders take photos of the mummy. However, it takes some time to take out the mummy from Honai and put it on the display spot. Perhaps, there must be a minimum number of visitors as the requirement.
Aside from taking photos of the mummy, visitors are likely to learn the history of it. The name is Wim Motok Mabel. “Wim” means war and “Motok” means general. As for Mabel, it is the name of the person. The villages applied a traditional method to preserve the corpse, which used both pork oil and fumigation! No wonder, the bones are black due to such a process.
According to the locals, the corpse was fumigated for more than 100 days! The procession is called Ap Ako, actually. Have no worries. Tourists can learn more about it from villagers. The thing is visitors should pay some fee in order to watch and take photos of the mummy. Some people consider it expensive, but they won’t regret it at all.
Nearby Attractions
- Telaga Biru Wamena
- Pasir Putih Aikima
How to Get There
From Jayapura City, tourists can directly head to Wamena City by airplane. This flight takes only 30 minutes, so don’t worry. This flight would be way much longer if they come from Jakarta City, though. It is around 10 hours and 10 minutes! Regardless of where tourists come from, they should use Pikhe Street later in order to reach Aikima Village (where the mummy resides). The distance is 19.6 km, so the trip takes about 44 minutes.
Where to Stay
- Baliem Valley Resort
