This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: What materials did ancient Egyptians use to preserve the dead, and how can their composition still be investigated thousands of years later? An interdisciplinary team at Marburg University has combined modern natural product analysis with Egyptology and the history of pharmacy to investigate these questions.
In their study "New molecular and historical evidence on ancient Egyptian embalming," published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, they combine molecular analyses with the examination of historical written sources, uncovering new evidence regarding the use of plant-based substances in embalming. The findings also open up new possibilities for researching the history of collections. Ancient Egyptian mummification was a complex process involving not only the evisceration of the body but also the use of various plant, animal and mineral materials.
Previous chemical analyses had identified coniferous resins and tars, pistachio resins, plant oils, animal fats, beeswax and bitumen in the embalming mixtures. Evidence of additional exotic plant resins, such as elemi or dammar, had also been found. Despite these findings, numerous questions remained unanswered: Which plant species were actually used?
How did embalming recipes differ across various periods, regions and body parts? And which of the substances described in ancient Egyptian texts can be linked to specific plant-based raw materials? The Marburg study has now discovered previously undetected plant-derived compounds in mummy material that had been used as medicine since the late Middle Ages.
For their study, the researchers analyzed 24 objects from university and museum collections, including a mummified skull from the Zoological Collection of Marburg University. Radiocarbon dating assigned the skull to the eighth century B.C. Chemical analyses of this skull and a second sample—a historical preparation of the medicinal drug Mumia vera aegyptiaca from the 18th century, originating from the Löwen Pharmacy in Offenbach am Main (now housed in the Heidelberg Pharmacy Museum)—revealed traces of several plant-derived compounds associated with aloe.
"This finding is significant for research for two reasons: Until now, aloe had not been identified as a component of ancient Egyptian embalming materials through molecular analysis. At the same time, aloe was linked to mummy material used as medicine in later centuries, particularly in medieval texts," explains Dr. Tanja Pommerening, who heads Germany's only Institute for the History of Pharmacy and Medicine at Marburg University.
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