Characterisation of embalming materials of a mummy of the Ptolemaic era. Comparison with balms from mummies of different eras

Tchapla, Alain; Mejanelle, P.; Bleton, Jean; Goursaud, S.

doi:10.1002/jssc.200301607

Cited by 60 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…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)(7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(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 the compositions of balms from ongoing investigations of human and animal mummies.…”

mentioning

confidence: 58%

“…The results of this investigation indicate that meat mummies, as with human (7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12) and animal mummies (6), were subjected to a diverse range of treatments to ensure their preservation in ancient Egyptian tombs. The degree of complexity of preparing and provisioning a tomb depended on the tomb owner's wealth and access to luxury goods, which would clearly have related to the status of the burial (35).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…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%

“…FAMEs were then redissolved into hexane for analysis by GC-C-IRMS using a Varian 3400 GC coupled to a Finnigan MAT Delta-S IRMS via a modified Finnigan MAT combustion interface: Cu and Pt wires (0.1-mm outer diameter) in an alumina reactor (0.5-mm inner diameter). The reactor temperature was maintained at 860°C, the MS ion source pressure was 6 × 10 −6 mbar, and faraday cups were used for the detection of ions of mass 44 ( 12 O). Sample injections were performed using a septum-equipped programmable (SPI) injector.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Clark

Ikram

Evershed

2013

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

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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...

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mentioning

confidence: 58%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Clark

Ikram

Evershed

2013

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

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“…1 Ricinoleic acid produces a very characteristic oxidation product, 9,12-dihydroxyoctadecanoic acid, 9 and both of these compounds can be considered as specific biomarkers for castor oil and have been used to assess its presence in archaeological artifacts such as lamps 9 and mummification balms. 10 Other oils have a very distinctive saturated fatty acid profile, which in theory could be used to identify them in archaeological samples; examples are moringa oil, which contains about 8% of long-chain saturated fatty acids (eicosanoic acid and docosanoic acid) that usually survive ageing, 1,11 and coconut oil, which mainly consists of saturated triglycerides in which dodecanoic acid (lauric) and tetradecanoic acid (myristic) are the principal fatty acids. 1 Olive, almond, balanos, castor, coconut, linseed, moringa, palm, poppy, radish, safflower, and sesame oils were well known oleiferous species spread round the Mediterranean Sea.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Organic mass spectrometry in archaeology: evidence for Brassicaceae seed oil in Egyptian ceramic lamps

Colombini¹,

Modugno²,

Ribechini³

2005

J. Mass Spectrom.

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An analytical procedure based on alkaline hydrolysis and silylation followed by GC/MS analysis was employed to study the formation of characteristic acidic compounds and the development of a distinctive chromatographic pattern in the course of accelerated ageing tests on Brassicaceae seed oil. On the basis of mass spectra of trimethylsilyl derivatives, the main degradation products were identified as alpha,omega-dicarboxylic, omega-hydroxycarboxylic and dihydroxycarboxylic acids, including 11,12-dihydroxyeicosanoic acid and 13,14-dihydroxydocosanoic acid. The mass spectra of both these compounds are characterised by fragment ions arising from the alpha cleavage of the bond between the two vicinal trimethylsiloxy groups, resulting in fragments at m/z 215 and 345 for 11,12-dihydroxyeicosanoic acid, and at m/z 215 and 373 for 13,14-dihydroxydocosanoic acid. Other significant fragment ion-radicals from rearrangement process at m/z [M - 90](+*), [M - 142](+*), 204 as well as fragment ions at m/z [M - 15](+), [M - 105](+), 217 are present in the mass spectra of both the compounds. The results obtained for reference materials were compared with those relating to archaeological organic materials recovered in Egyptian pottery lamps. The occurrence of the same characteristic degradation products found in the reference materials subjected to accelerated ageing indicates an unambiguous origin for the organic archaeological remains and represents the chemical evidence for the use of oil from seeds of Brassicaceae as illuminant.

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