To What Extent Did the Ancient Egyptians Employ Bitumen for Embalming?

Spielmann, Percy E.

doi:10.2307/3854980

Cited by 10 publications

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“…Second, because mussels attach to each other with byssal threads, when waves dislodge a mussel from the rock that mussel pulls its neighbours along with it, thereby transmitting the disturbance through the mussel bed in much the same way as forest ®res propagate when sparks from a burning tree ignite neighbouring trees 12 . Wave disturbance also acts differentially on mussel beds of different ages, with beds of old, multi-layered mussels being more prone to disturbance, owing to the high ratio of mussel mass per unit attachment area to the rocks, and to the high fraction of byssal threads attached to other mussels, rather than the rock 12,14,15 . Other sessile species and their mobile associates colonize the bare rock created by disturbance events, and exhibit a complex set of interactions among themselves and with mussels 10,12,13,16±19 .…”

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Organic chemistry of embalming agents in Pharaonic and Graeco-Roman mummies

Buckley

Evershed

2001

Nature

188

139

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Chemical treatments were an essential element of ancient Egyptian mummification. Although the inorganic salt natron is recognized as having a central role as a desiccant, without the application of organic preservatives the bodies would have decomposed in the humid environment of the tombs. The nature of the organic treatments remains obscure, because the ancient Egyptians left no written record of the process. Secondary textual evidence for mummification is provided by Herodotus, Diodorus Siculus, Strabo and Pliny. The most important account is that of Herodotus (about 450 yr bc), although archaeological evidence shows that by this time the process had declined significantly and the best results had been achieved centuries before. His account mentions myrrh, cassia, palm wine, 'cedar oil' (still widely disputed) and 'gum'; however, it is vague with respect to the specific natural products used. Here we report the results of chemical investigations of a substantial collection of samples of tissues, wrappings and 'resinous/bituminous' materials from provenanced and dated Egyptian mummies. We focused on examples of the 'classic' mummy-making culture of the Pharaonic or dynastic period, from which we can begin to track the development of mummification chronologically.

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Organic chemistry of embalming agents in Pharaonic and Graeco-Roman mummies

Buckley

Evershed

2001

Nature

188

139

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“…Embalming matter and other “black matter” used in ancient Egypt are complex mixtures of natural compounds such as sugar gum, beeswax, fats, coniferous resins, bitumen, and so on. − Each of these substances is characterized by specific molecular biomarkers identified by various methods of analytical organic chemistry, among which gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and pyrolysis–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (Py–GC/MS) are the most commonly used. Since the 19th century, and in spite of many controversies, egyptologists have believed that the dark color of mummies is due to the presence of bitumen. − Based on specific molecular biomarkers, mainly hopanes and steranes, and on radiocarbon analysis (bitumen has lost its 14 C), it was concluded that bitumen was increasingly used for mummification receipts from the New Kingdom (ca 1550–1070 BC) to the Ptolemaïc/Roman period (332 BC- IVth century AC) . Although the ensemble of destructive organic analytical and radiocarbon methods used so far is powerful to study separately the many pieces of the puzzle, there does not seem to be a method for analyzing the whole puzzle, i.e., in a nondestructive manner.…”

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Nondestructive Analysis of Mummification Balms in Ancient Egypt Based on EPR of Vanadyl and Organic Radical Markers of Bitumen

et al. 2020

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The black matter employed in funeral context by ancient Egyptian is a complex mixture of plant-based compounds with variable amounts of bitumen. Asphaltene, the most resistant component of bitumen, contain Vanadyl porphyrins and carbonaceous radicals which can be used as paramagnetic probes to investigate embalming materials without sample preparation. Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) at X-band, combining in-phase and out-of-phase detection schemes, provides new information in a non-destructive way about the presence, the origin, and the evolution of bitumen in these complex materials. It is found that the relative EPR intensity of radicals and vanadyl porphyrins is sensitive to the origin of the bitumen. The presence of non-porphyrinic vanadyl complexes in historical samples is likely due to the complexation of VO2+ ions by carboxylic functions at the interface between bitumen and other biological components of the embalming matter. The absence of such oxygenated vanadyl complex in natural bitumen and in one case of historical human mummy acquired by a museum in the 19th century reveals a possible, non-documented, ancient restoration of this mummy by pure bitumen. The linear correlation between in-phase and out-of phase EPR intensities of radicals and vanadyl porphyrins in balms and in natural bitumen, reveals a nanostructuration of radicals and vanadyl porphyrin complexes, which was not affected by the preparation of the balm. This points to the remarkable chemical stability of paramagnetic probes in historical bitumen in ancient Egypt. File list (2) download file view on ChemRxiv BackMatter_EPR.pdf (1.68 MiB) download file view on ChemRxiv Supporting Information.pdf (1.32 MiB)Non-destructive analysis of mummification balms in Ancient Egypt, based on EPR of vanadyl and organic radical markers of bitumen.

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Plants and Plant Products Used in Mummification

David

1992

Phytochemical Resources for Medicine and Agriculture

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To What Extent Did the Ancient Egyptians Employ Bitumen for Embalming?

Cited by 10 publications

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Organic chemistry of embalming agents in Pharaonic and Graeco-Roman mummies

Organic chemistry of embalming agents in Pharaonic and Graeco-Roman mummies

Nondestructive Analysis of Mummification Balms in Ancient Egypt Based on EPR of Vanadyl and Organic Radical Markers of Bitumen

Plants and Plant Products Used in Mummification

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