HMN 2025: How well-preserved Egyptian mummies actually smell pretty good

At first whiff, it sounds repulsive: sniff the essence of an historical corpse.

But researchers who indulged their curiosity within the identify of science discovered that well-preserved Egyptian mummies really scent fairly good.

“In movies and books, horrible issues occur to those that scent mummified our bodies,” mentioned Cecilia Bembibre, director of analysis at University College London’s Institute for Sustainable Heritage. “We have been shocked on the pleasantness of them.”

“Woody,” “spicy” and “candy” have been the main descriptions from what sounded extra like a wine tasting than a mummy sniffing train. Floral notes have been additionally detected, which may very well be from pine and juniper resins utilized in embalming.

The study revealed Thursday within the Journal of the American Chemical Society used each chemical evaluation and a panel of human sniffers to guage the odors from 9 mummies as outdated as 5,000 years that had been both in storage or on show on the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

The researchers wished to systematically study the scent of mummies as a result of it has lengthy been a topic of fascination for the general public and researchers alike, mentioned Bembibre, one of many report’s authors. Archeologists, historians, conservators and even fiction writers have devoted pages of their work to the topic—for good motive.

Scent was an vital consideration within the mummification course of that used oils, waxes and balms to protect the physique and its spirit for the afterlife. The practice was largely reserved for pharaohs and the Aristocracy and nice smells have been related to purity and deities whereas dangerous odors have been indicators of corruption and decay.

Without sampling the mummies themselves, which might be invasive, researchers from UCL and the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia have been in a position to measure whether or not aromas have been coming from the archaeological merchandise, pesticides or different merchandise used to preserve the stays, or from deterioration as a consequence of mildew, micro organism or microorganisms.

“We have been fairly frightened that we’d discover notes or hints of decaying our bodies, which wasn’t the case,” mentioned Matija Strli?, a chemistry professor on the University of Ljubljana. “We have been particularly frightened that there is likely to be indications of microbial degradation, however that was not the case, which implies that the setting on this museum, is definitely fairly good by way of preservation.”

Using technical devices to measure and quantify air molecules emitted from sarcophagi to find out the state of preservation with out touching the mummies was just like the Holy Grail, Strli? mentioned.

“It tells us doubtlessly what social class a mummy was from and and due to this fact reveals plenty of details about the mummified physique that’s related not simply to conservators, however to curators and archeologists as properly,” he mentioned. “We consider that this method is doubtlessly of big curiosity to different sorts of museum collections.”

Barbara Huber, a postdoctoral researcher at Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology in Germany who was not concerned within the study, mentioned the findings present essential information on compounds that might protect or degrade mummified stays. The data may very well be used to higher shield the traditional our bodies for future generations.

• 

• 

“However, the analysis additionally underscores a key problem: the smells detected at present aren’t essentially these from the time of mummification,” Huber mentioned. “Over hundreds of years, evaporation, oxidation, and even storage circumstances have considerably altered the unique scent profile.”

Huber authored a review two years in the past that analyzed residue from a jar that had contained mummified organs of a noblewoman to establish embalming elements, their origins and what they revealed about commerce routes. She then labored with a perfumer to create an interpretation of the embalming scent, referred to as “Scent of Eternity,” for an exhibition on the Moesgaard Museum in Denmark.

Researchers of the present study hope to do one thing related, utilizing their findings to develop “smellscapes” to artificially recreate the scents they detected and improve the expertise for future museumgoers.

“Museums have been referred to as white cubes, where you might be prompted to learn, to see, to method every little thing from a distance together with your eyes,” Bembibre mentioned. “Observing the mummified our bodies by a glass case reduces the expertise as a result of we do not get to scent them. We do not get to know in regards to the mummification course of in an experiential manner, which is likely one of the ways in which we perceive and interact with the world.”

© 2025 The Associated Press. This materials might not be revealed, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed with out permission.