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

Buckley, Stephen; Evershed, Richard P.

doi:10.1038/35101588

Cited by 186 publications

(147 citation statements)

References 11 publications

(7 reference statements)

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“…Organic materials, including amorphous organic residues, are well preserved in water-logged burial environments and at some, but not all, very dry sites (3,4,26,(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(42)(43). By contrast organic material is very poorly preserved at sites where the water table is constantly rising and falling creating cycles of wet and dry conditions (3).…”

Section: Residue Formation and Preservationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Organic Residues in Archaeology: The Highs and Lows of Recent Research

Steele

2013

ACS Symposium Series

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The analysis of organic residues from archaeological materials has become increasingly important to our understanding of ancient diet, trade and technology. Residues from diverse contexts have been retrieved and analysed from the remains of food, medicine and cosmetics to hafting material on stone arrowheads, pitch and tar from shipwrecks, and ancient manure from soils. Research has brought many advances in our understanding of archaeological, organic residues over the past two decades. Some have enabled very specific and detailed interpretations of materials preserved in the archaeological record. However there are still areas where we know very little, like the mechanisms at work during the formation and preservation of residues, and areas where each advance produces more questions rather than answers, as in the identification of degraded fats. This chapter will discuss some of the significant achievements in the field over the past decade and the ongoing challenges for research in this area.1341280_File000001_20903114.docPrinted 7/19/2013 2

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Section: Residue Formation and Preservationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Organic Residues in Archaeology: The Highs and Lows of Recent Research

Steele

2013

ACS Symposium Series

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“…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%

“…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.…”

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confidence: 97%

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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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“…For example, it can document past agricultural practices, decipher embalming agents, assess food intake in coprolites, or determine contents of pottery vessels (Dudd & Evershed, 1998;Evershed et al, 1999Evershed et al, , 2002Buckley & Evershed, 2001;Copley et al, 2001;Bull et al, 2002).…”

Section: Biomarkers In Archeologymentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of current applications of mass spectrometry for biomarker/molecular tracer elucidations

Simoneit

2004

Mass Spectrometry Reviews

129

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Mass spectrometry, especially coupled with gas chromatography or tandem, is the analytical method of choice in elucidations of biomarker compounds present in organic mixtures extracted from geological, environmental, or biological samples. This review describes the biomarker concept; i.e., the precursor natural products to the geological/environmental derivatives, and their application as tracers in the geosphere and ambient environment. The mass spectrometric methods currently utilized for such analyses are reviewed, and typical examples of applications are described with a general key to the literature. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., Mass Spec Rev 24:719–765, 2005

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

Cited by 186 publications

References 11 publications

Organic Residues in Archaeology: The Highs and Lows of Recent Research

Organic Residues in Archaeology: The Highs and Lows of Recent Research

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

A review of current applications of mass spectrometry for biomarker/molecular tracer elucidations

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