Probing the mysteries of ancient Egypt: chemical analysis of a Roman period Egyptian mummy

Proefke, Mark L.; Rinehart, Kenneth L.; Raheel, Mastura; Ambrose, Stnaley H.; Wisseman, Sarah U.

doi:10.1021/ac00026a002

Cited by 72 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 7 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Overlying the longterm temporal dietary shift, a seasonal shift between C 4 and C 3 foods was also found in the hair [115]. The Nilotic Nubian ecosystem included more C 4 plants than both Nilotic Egypt and oases where wheat and barley were the main staples for both humans and animals [32,38,84,119].…”

Section: Site and Sample Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the effects of environment, physiology and diet on oxygen isotope ratios in ancient Nubian bones and teeth

White

Longstaffe

Law

2004

Journal of Archaeological Science

134

114

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: Site and Sample Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring the effects of environment, physiology and diet on oxygen isotope ratios in ancient Nubian bones and teeth

White

Longstaffe

Law

2004

Journal of Archaeological Science

134

114

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…To analyze the surface of anthropological specimens, other authors reported on the application of FAB-MS-MS for analysis of resins in Egyptian mummies (Proefke et al, 1992). They observed oxidation products of abietic acid, which is common in coniferous resins, and identified the mummy resin as pine pitch.…”

Section: Other Mummiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In an exemplary study, Proefke et al (1992) examined wrappings from an Egyptian mummy from the Roman period. The authors chose FAB-MS to identify the terpenoic acids because of its ability to produce strong [M þ H] þ ions from polar, nonvolatile compounds.…”

Section: Anthropological Specimens By Gc-ms and Chemometricsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploration of anthropological specimens by GC‐MS and chemometrics

Вармуза

Makristathis

Schwarzmeier

et al. 2004

Mass Spectrometry Reviews

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Anthropological specimens combine a variety of unfavorable characteristics, rendering their evaluation an analytical challenge. Their remarkable status is primarily based on two characteristics: (i) these very rare samples of human origin are testimonies of human history and are, therefore, available only in minute amounts for analytical purposes, and (ii) the analysis of these samples is extremely limited by the decomposition of molecules, which are easily detected in living organisms, such as nucleic acids and proteins, but are subject to rapid post-mortem decay. In this article, we review the methods and results of archaeometry, emphasizing the role of MS combined with chemometrics. Focusing on experimental results for fatty acid profiles, specimens from mummies from different civilizations were compared. Considering in particular the Tyrolean Iceman, the application of chemometric methods to GC-MS data recovers essential information about the preservation and the storage conditions of mummies.

show abstract

“…Chemical analyses were performed using the same methods for human and animal mummies (6,7) to ensure detection of the range of balm components detected in earlier studies, namely beeswax, animal fats and plant oils, plant resins, petroleum bitumen, and essential oils (6)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Organic chemistry of balms used in the preparation of pharaonic meat mummies

Clark

Ikram

Evershed

2013

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The funeral preparations for ancient Egyptian dead were extensive. Tomb walls were often elaborately painted and inscribed with scenes and objects deemed desirable for the afterlife. Votive objects, furniture, clothing, jewelry, and importantly, food including bread, cereals, fruit, jars of wine, beer, oil, meat, and poultry were included in the burial goods. An intriguing feature of the meat and poultry produced for the deceased from the highest levels of Egyptian society was that they were mummified to ensure their preservation. However, little is known about the way they were prepared, such as whether balms were used, and if they were used, how they compared with those applied to human and animal mummies? We present herein the results of lipid biomarker and stable carbon isotope investigations of tissues, bandaging, and organic balms associated with a variety of meat mummies that reveal that treatments ranged from simple desiccation and wrapping in bandages to, in the case of the tomb of Yuya and Tjuia (18th Dynasty, 1386-1349 BC), a balm associated with a beef rib mummy containing a high abundance of Pistacia resin and, thus, more sophisticated than the balms found on many contemporaneous human mummies.food mummies | pharaohs | Egypt | triterpenoids | fatty acyl lipids F ood to sustain the deceased in the afterlife was perhaps the most important item in a burial and has been found in interments from the earliest periods (3300 BC) to the latest (fourth century AD). The burial of King Tutankhamun (died c. 1323 BC) comprised 48 carved wooden cases containing a variety of joints from cattle and poultry (1, 2). Virtually all of the food found in these tombs was preserved through dehydration, save for the meat, as untreated meat would not last more than a few hours in the Egyptian heat. A solution to preserving meat in the burials would have been to preserve it in the same manner as human mummies. Indeed, "meat" or "victual" mummies have been found in many high status tombs (3). Meat mummies are but one type of animal mummy produced by the Egyptians, the others including votives, pets to be left in the tomb with their owner, and sacred animals, such as the Apis bull (1, 4, 5).Hundreds of examples of meat mummies are known from ancient Egypt (see appendix II in ref. 1). Until recently, these had been neglected as objects of study and as a consequence are poorly understood. Recent investigations have established that for the most part victual mummies are joints of meat or poultry prepared as if for eating, which are wrapped, encoffined, and placed in the tomb (1,4,5). SEM has shown that salt and natron were used for desiccation (1, 5). The question that remains is whether organic balms were applied? The presence of dark residues is consistent with the appearance of balms applied to human and animal mummies (6-12). The Cairo Museum and British Museum graciously provided us with samples of tissues and balms from several meat mummies (Table 1), allowing us to assess their chemical compositions and make comparisons with...

show abstract

Probing the mysteries of ancient Egypt: chemical analysis of a Roman period Egyptian mummy

Cited by 72 publications

References 7 publications

Exploring the effects of environment, physiology and diet on oxygen isotope ratios in ancient Nubian bones and teeth

Exploring the effects of environment, physiology and diet on oxygen isotope ratios in ancient Nubian bones and teeth

Exploration of anthropological specimens by GC‐MS and chemometrics

Organic chemistry of balms used in the preparation of pharaonic meat mummies

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About