Researchers have newly identified the recipe for a specific mixture of chemicals that ancient Egyptians used to preserve different body parts, according to a study published in Nature. The discovery, based on the analysis of an ancient embalming workshop in Egypt, will advance knowledge and understanding of ancient Egyptian mummification processes. The mummification process in ancient Egypt was long and complicated, involving the use of many different antiseptic substances. The current knowledge of antiseptic substances mainly comes from ancient documents and the analysis of organic residues in Egyptian mummies. While previous analyzes have successfully identified a variety of embalming substances, the role of the individual components and the overall sequence in this process remain largely unclear. The researchers analyzed 31 ceramic vessels recovered from an embalming workshop in Saqqara, Egypt, dating back to Egypt’s 26th Dynasty (664-525 BC). They found that the usual translation of the ancient Egyptian word “antiu” as “myrrh” or “incense” may sometimes be wrong, because in workshops it does not refer to a single substance, but an aromatic oil mixed with fats or A mixture of tar.
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