German scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology have recreated the scent of embalming balm used in ancient Egypt about 3.5 thousand years ago. Research results published in the scientific journal Scientific Reports.
Experts say Pharaoh II, who lived during the 18th dynasty around 1450 BC. He studied the materials used in the mummification of the noble lady Sentenei, Amenhotep’s former nurse. The team used cutting-edge techniques, including high-temperature gas chromatography and mass spectrometry.
The scientists found that the composition contains a mixture of beeswax, vegetable oil, fats, bitumen, larch or other coniferous resin and peanut resin.
According to the researchers, the analysis showed that the ancient Egyptians obtained some of the materials needed for mummification from other regions. In other words, larch resin was brought from the Mediterranean, and pistachio tree resin was brought from Southeast Asia. This may indicate that trade links between Egypt and Southeast Asia existed almost a thousand years earlier than previously thought.
The scent of embalming balm will be presented at an exhibition to be held at the Moesgarrd Museum in Denmark in autumn 2023.
Earlier archaeologists to solvethat ancient Egyptian children suffered from blood disorders.