# History of shilajit: Ayurveda, mumijo, momiai

Source: https://shilajit.uk/what-is-shilajit/history/
Author: Sam Rowan · Updated 2026-10-16

**Short answer:** Shilajit has been used for centuries across Asia. Ayurveda classes it as a rasayana, or rejuvenator, and a review found it in 20 classical formulations. Persian medical texts from Rhazes onwards describe it as momiai, used especially for fractures and digestion. In Russia and Central Asia it is known as mumijo and was studied for bone healing.

Few natural remedies have travelled as far, under as many names, as shilajit. Indian physicians called it shilajit or shilajatu and placed it among their most prized rejuvenators. Persian physicians wrote about it as moomiaii, or momiai. In Russia and the Central Asian republics it is mumijo or mumie, in Kazakh medicine tasmayi, and in Tibetan and Chinese medicine zhaxun. Older English texts call it mineral pitch.

Across these traditions the same few uses keep coming back: strength and vitality, digestion, and above all the healing of broken bones. This page traces that history using published reviews of the traditional sources. It describes what people believed, not what has been proven; for the modern evidence, see [shilajit benefits](/benefits/) and our [research library](/research/).

## How is shilajit used in Ayurveda?

As a rasayana, a rejuvenating remedy. In Ayurveda and the related Siddha system, a rasayana is something believed to prevent illness and improve quality of life, and shilajit is "aptly referred to as rasayana" in the classical literature (Wilson et al., 2011). A review from the University of Chile sums up the two defining aims of a rasayana as increasing physical strength and promoting health, with shilajit credited with increasing longevity and "arresting aging" (Carrasco-Gallardo et al., 2012).

A 2011 review of classical texts, pharmacopoeias and formularies found shilajit in 20 traditional ("Sastric") formulations and 24 branded Ayurvedic products. It traced the earliest use to hill tribes in mountainous regions, who first identified its value (Wilson et al., 2011). The great classical Sanskrit texts mention it too. According to one review, the Charaka Samhita describes shilajit as "stones of metal like gold", while the Sushruta Samhita calls it "a gelatinous substance" (Meena et al., 2010). It has been used "for thousands of years, in one form or another", as a rejuvenator and adaptogen in several countries' traditional medicine (Agarwal et al., 2007).

One part of Ayurvedic history has a modern safety echo. A branch called rasa shastra deliberately combines herbs with metals, minerals and gems. When researchers bought Ayurvedic medicines online, rasa shastra products were more than twice as likely to contain toxic metals as others: 40.6% compared with 17.1% (Saper et al., 2008). That study covered Ayurvedic products in general, not shilajit alone, but it is one reason [heavy metal testing](/safety/heavy-metals/) matters.

## What was momiai in Persian medicine?

Persian physicians knew shilajit as moomiaii, a word one review derives from the Persian mūm, meaning wax. Other spellings include momenayi, moomian and momie, and Rhazes called it abdaroo, "healing water" (Shahriari et al., 2018). The same review gathers its names across cultures: μούμια in Greek, araq al-jibal in Arabic, shilajit in Hindi, "conqueror of mountains" in Sanskrit and "rock juice" in Tibet.

The review draws on the major texts of Persian medicine: Rhazes' Al-Havi (Continens Liber) and Al-Mansuri (Rhazes lived 854 to 925 CE), Avicenna's Canon of Medicine (Avicenna lived 980 to 1037 CE), and later works including Aghili's Makhzan al-Advieh ("The storehouse of medicaments") and Tonekaboni's Tohfat al-Momenin ("Gift for the faithful"). Aghili's book and an earlier work by Nasir al-Din Tusi gave it a section of its own (Shahriari et al., 2018).

In the humoral system of Persian medicine, momiai was classed as a "hot and dry" remedy. The best quality was said to be black, shiny and not foul-smelling. It was taken as a syrup, which was considered most effective, or applied as a poultice (Shahriari et al., 2018). Its recorded uses included:

| Use | How it was given |
| --- | --- |
| Fractures and dislocations | Poultice on the limb, plus syrup by mouth; "one of the best known poultices for a fracture of extremities" |
| Digestion, stomach and gut ulcers | Syrup, often soaked in herbal decoctions such as celery or cumin seed |
| Headache, tremor, facial palsy | Nasal drops mixed with oils such as lily or marjoram |
| Coughs | Mixed with jujube or other herbs |
| Snake and scorpion bites | Applied locally, with butter or oil |

A French history of bitumen in medicine likewise records its use for lung, digestive and ear, nose and throat complaints and for setting fractures (Bourée et al., 2011). The fracture tradition is the one modern Iranian researchers chose to test. In a placebo-controlled trial in Tehran, 160 adults with a broken tibia took 1,000 mg of momiai a day for 28 days after surgery, and their bones united in an average of 129 days compared with 153 days on placebo (Sadeghi et al., 2020). See [shilajit and bone health](/benefits/bone-health/) for what that trial does and doesn't show.

## Was shilajit really used to embalm Egyptian mummies?

Probably not, though the words are connected. A 2025 chemistry review says shilajit was "the main constituent used for the mummification of bodies by dynastic Egyptians" (Kamgar et al., 2025). The Persian medicine review takes a different view: the medicinal bitumen was a different substance from the resins Egyptians used for embalming, the two being similar "just in shape, viscosity and color". It adds that bitumen was commonly used in Europe between the 12th and 17th centuries, and that over time the link between the remedy and the embalming material was lost, with the name applied to medicated flesh instead (Shahriari et al., 2018). That shift helps explain how "mummy" and "momiai" came to be confused.

## How was mumijo used in Russia and Central Asia?

As a widely used folk medicine, and later as a subject of Soviet research. Mumijo has been used especially in Russia, the Altai mountains, Mongolia, Iran, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, for infections and as an immune stimulant and anti-allergic remedy (Aiello et al., 2011). In traditional Kazakh medicine, where it is called tasmayi, it is used for broken bones and many inflammatory conditions (Kizaibek, 2013).

Bone healing was the focus of much Soviet-era work. PubMed indexes Russian-language papers from the 1960s and 1970s with titles such as "Effect of mumie on bone regeneration ... in experimental fractures of the tubular bones" (Shakurov, 1965) and "Treatment of long tubular bone fractures with Mumie Assil preparations in experiments and clinical conditions" (Kel'ginbaev et al., 1973). Only their titles are available in English, so we can't report their findings, but they show how seriously the fracture tradition was taken.

Further east, Tibetan medicine uses a water extract of shilajit, zhaxun, for "heat-related" conditions, especially of the stomach, liver and kidney (Ding et al., 2020).

## When did modern science start studying shilajit?

Chemical analysis began in earnest in the 1970s, with a 1976 paper on its chemical constituents by S. Ghosal and colleagues (Ghosal et al., 1976). Human trials followed much later and remain few and small. Reviewing the traditional record in 2011, researchers concluded that despite a long history of use, shilajit "lacks scientific evaluation and systematic documentation" (Wilson et al., 2011). That gap is what our [evidence grades](/about/evidence-grades/) try to make clear. For what shilajit actually is, start with our [what is shilajit](/what-is-shilajit/) overview.

## Frequently asked questions

### What does the word shilajit mean?

It comes from Sanskrit and is usually translated as 'conqueror of mountains'. In Tibet it has been called 'rock juice', and in Arabic sources 'araq al-jibal'.

### Is mumijo the same as shilajit?

Mostly, yes. Mumijo, mumie and mumiyo are the names used in Russia and Central Asia for the same kind of rock exudate. Samples from different regions differ in chemistry, and the name has occasionally been applied to quite different materials.

### Was shilajit used to make Egyptian mummies?

Probably not. The word 'mummy' and the Persian 'mumiya' are linked, and some sources claim a connection, but a review of Persian medicine notes that the medicinal substance was different from the resins used for embalming, despite looking similar.

### Does traditional use prove shilajit works?

No. Long use tells us what people believed and valued, not whether it works. A review of shilajit in Indian medicine concluded that, despite its long history, it lacks scientific evaluation.

## References

1. [Wilson E et al. Review on shilajit used in traditional Indian medicine. J Ethnopharmacol. 2011;136(1):1-9.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21530631/)
2. [Meena H et al. Shilajit: A panacea for high-altitude problems. Int J Ayurveda Res. 2010;1(1):37-40.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20532096/)
3. [Carrasco-Gallardo C, Guzmán L, Maccioni RB. Shilajit: a natural phytocomplex with potential procognitive activity. Int J Alzheimers Dis. 2012;2012:674142.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22482077/)
4. [Agarwal SP et al. Shilajit: a review. Phytother Res. 2007;21(5):401-5.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17295385/)
5. [Saper RB et al. Lead, mercury, and arsenic in US- and Indian-manufactured Ayurvedic medicines sold via the Internet. JAMA. 2008;300(8):915-23.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18728265/)
6. [Shahriari M, Zare F, Nimrouzi M. The Curative Role of Bitumen in Traditional Persian Medicine. Acta Med Hist Adriat. 2018;16(2):283-292.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30488706/) Details of Persian sources, names and uses from the full text.
7. [Bourée P et al. Use of bitumen in medicine throughout the ages. Hist Sci Med. 2011;45(2):119-25.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21936212/) French-language article.
8. [Kamgar E, Kaykhaii M, Zembrzuska J. A Comprehensive Review on Shilajit: What We Know about Its Chemical Composition. Crit Rev Anal Chem. 2025;55(3):461-473.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38133965/)
9. [Sadeghi SMH et al. Efficacy of Momiai in Tibia Fracture Repair: A Randomized Double-Blinded Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial. J Altern Complement Med. 2020;26(6):521-528.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32310691/)
10. [Aiello A et al. Mumijo traditional medicine: fossil deposits from antarctica (chemical composition and beneficial bioactivity). Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2011;2011:738131.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18996940/)
11. [Kizaibek M. Research advances of Tasmayi. Zhongguo Zhong Yao Za Zhi. 2013;38(3):443-8.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23668027/) Chinese-language article.
12. [Shakurov ASh. Effect of 'mumie' on bone regeneration and blood alkaline phosphatase in experimental fractures of the tubular bones. Ortop Travmatol Protez. 1965;26:24-7.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14348079/) Russian-language article; only the title is indexed.
13. [Kel'ginbaev NS et al. Treatment of long tubular bone fractures with Mumie Assil preparations in experiments and clinical conditions. Eksp Khir Anesteziol. 1973;18(4):31-5.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/4271714/) Russian-language article; only the title is indexed.
14. [Ding R et al. Mechanisms of generation and exudation of Tibetan medicine Shilajit (Zhaxun). Chin Med. 2020;15:65.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32612671/)
15. [Ghosal S, Reddy JP, Lal VK. Shilajit I: chemical constituents. J Pharm Sci. 1976;65(5):772-3.](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/932958/)