Unwrapping the secrets of the past with a recipe for the afterlife
The embalming recipe of the ancient Egyptians has been revealed during chemical tests that showed the practice of mummification began more than 1,000 years earlier than previously thought.
A multinational team of researchers discovered that a preserved body dating back about 5,700 years had been wrapped in linen soaked with conifer resin, plant oil, aromatic plant extracts and a gum.
The discovery indicated that the art was being practised long before the golden era of the pharaohs, and using similar ingredients to those used about 2,500 years later at what is considered the peak of embalming expertise.
Mummification was believed to have started about 4,600 years ago when the Great Pyramid of Giza was being built, according to researchers.
The latest discovery, by researchers from universities in the UK, Australia and Italy, also suggests mummification was more geographically widespread than thought.
The body was found in southern Egypt during a period when the concept of a pan-Egyptian identity was still emerging.
The tests were carried out on a mummy housed in the Egyptian Museum in Turin since 1901 that had never had any conservation treatment, allowing for accurate scientific analysis.
It was previously assumed that the body had been naturally mummified because of the hot and dry desert sand.
The tests indicated that the conifer resin mixed with the plant oil had given the mixture antibacterial qualities that would have prevented the body from decaying, the researchers said.
Tests included radiocarbon dating, genetic tests and microscopic examination of the linen, which indicated that the man was between 20 and 30 years old when he died.
“Our findings represent the literal embodiment of the forerunners of classic mummification, which would become one of the central pillars of ancient Egyptian culture,” said Dr Stephen Buckley, an archaeological scientist at the University of York and one of the researchers.