The smell of Ancient Egyptian mummified bodies reveals their history
Have you ever wondered what Ancient Egyptian mummified bodies smell like? Conservators and museum workers have often reported it as quite a pleasant smell, resembling balms and resins, but this has never been systematically investigated.
Starting from this question, a group of researchers from the University of Ljubljana, led by Prof. Dr. Matija Strlič, with Dr. Fabiana Di Gianvincenzo and Emma Paolin, a PhD student, together with researchers from University College London and the University of Economics in Krakow, have investigated whether the current smell of mummified bodies reflects the original mummification materials.
Ancient Egyptian mummification was a mortuary practice aimed at preserving the body and soul for the afterlife, achieved through a detailed ritual of embalming using oils, waxes, and balms. A new scientific study shows that 5,000 years later, the smells of mummified bodies can still reveal important information about their history.
The research group studied nine mummified bodies from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo through chemical, olfactory, and sensory analysis and found that the smell is still present! The sensory analysis was performed by a trained panel, i.e., people who have learned how to describe smells in terms of quality (e.g., citrus, fresh, woody), intensity, and hedonic tone (whether it is pleasant or not). They smelled a sample from the headspace of these mummified bodies, i.e., the air surrounding these bodies, and described it. They identified 13 main descriptors, defining the smell mainly as woody, spicy, and sweet.
Chemical analysis of the volatile molecules, using a gas chromatograph coupled with mass spectrometry and an olfactory detector, enabled the chemical and olfactory characterisation of each molecule. It is important to combine this with sensory analysis because, unlike sensory analysis, where you smell the whole air, chemical analysis allows you to focus on individual molecules and determine which ones actively contribute to the overall smell.
The chemical analysis identified four categories of volatiles based on their origin: (i) original mummification materials; (ii) microbiological deterioration products; (iii) synthetic pesticides; and (iv) plant oils used for conservation. The plant oils and synthetic pesticides used during conservation treatments were mainly detected in the display area. Additionally, the researchers observed compounds derived from wood degradation and many terpenoids such as limonene, pinene, and caryophyllene, indicative of plant products such as juniper oil, pine oil, cedar oil, frankincense, and myrrh. This confirms the smells described in the sensory analysis. It shows that despite centuries of deterioration, these materials still contribute to the pleasant and distinctive smell described by conservators and museum staff.
Apart from gaining a deeper insight into the conservation and material history of ancient, mummified bodies, the research will enable museums to engage audiences not just visually but through their sense of smell as well. In the future, a contemporary reconstruction of the smell of ancient, mummified bodies will be produced by the research team. This will enable audiences to experience this important aspect of ancient Egyptian heritage and approach practices of embalming and conservation in an engaging, olfactory way.
Read more about the publication here: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jacs.4c15769.