Interdisciplinary Study of Egyptian Mummies from the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts Collection at the National Research Centre “Kurchatov Institute”

Yatsishina, E. B.; Kovalchuk, M. V.; Loshak, M. D.; Vasilyev, Sergey; Vasilieva, O. A.; Dyuzheva, O. P.; Pojidaev, Victor M.; Ushakov, Vadim L.

doi:10.1134/s1063774518030343

Cited by 7 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…During archaeological excavations, bitumen and resin are often found in pottery vessels and such samples also can be investigated using modern mass spectrometry to determine the source and origin of the substance. [17][18][19][20] The word 'mummy' comes from Persian 'mummiya', meaning bitumen, and there are numerous reports of the use of asphalt and bitumen in ancient Egypt. Herodotus described the use of bitumen in funeral rites; in fact, the basket in which the Moses was left in the Nile was daubed ''with asphalt and pitch'' (Exodus 2-3).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigation of the archeological remains using ultrahigh resolution mass spectrometry

Kostyukevich

Kitova

Zherebker

et al. 2019

Eur J Mass Spectrom (Chichester)

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Investigation of the archeological material at the molecular level can reveal the composition of ancient paint, balsamic material, reveal cooking recipes, etc. High-resolution mass spectrometry is a powerful technique with underestimated potential for archeology. Here, we present the investigation of the 3000-year-old archeological remains, identified as parts of internal organs of an Egyptian mummy, using high-resolution Orbitrap mass spectrometry. We observed a diverse number of oxidized classes of compounds: O, O2, O3, O4, O5, N, NO, NO2, NO3, NO4, NO5, N2O, N2O2. Such chemical composition is unusual and we never observed it in our previous studies of petroleum, humic substances, products of wood pyrolysis or other natural complex mixtures. It is possible that such compounds are formed via biodegradation of lipids and other organic material used for funeral rites. We did not observe evidence of the presence of mineral bitumen, although there are many historical records of the use of mineral bitumen for mummification.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%