Pigments, incense, and bitumen from the New Kingdom town and cemetery on Sai Island in Nubia

Fulcher, Kate; Budka, Julia

doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2020.102550

Cited by 5 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…The town on Sai Island, located on a large island approximately halfway between the Second and Third Cataracts, was founded during, or soon after, the initial conquest of the region in the early 18th Dynasty (c. 1500 BC) [7], and was occupied throughout the remainder of the period of Egyptian rule. Two sectors within the walled town, SAV1 West and SAV1 East, were excavated by the AcrossBorders project [7,8] and yielded ceramic sherds containing paint [9]. All of the samples used in the current study were excavated in SAV1 West, which featured a street and domestic residences.…”

Section: The Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The investigation of the binding media in the paint materials reported here was carried out alongside an extensive multi-analytical study of the pigments used at both sites. Some 300 pigments from Amara West were investigated [11] and twenty-six from Sai [9]. At both sites, the analyses identified yellow and red ochres (iron oxides with natural admixtures); whites made from gypsum, anhydrite (dehydrated gypsum), calcite, or, more rarely, huntite; blues were Egyptian blue, except for four palettes at Amara West which were identified as riebeckite [12].…”

Section: The Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At Amara West, bitumen and carbon blacks were identified [13] and a few greens: copper chloride from a grindstone, green earth chlorite on some palettes and a single example of mixed Egyptian blue and yellow ochre [12]. Mixtures with white, especially with ochres, were observed at both sites [9,11].…”

Section: The Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Polysaccharide Paint Binding Media at Two Pharaonic Settlements in Nubia

Fulcher

Spencer

Budka³

et al. 2022

Heritage

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Paints and plasters from two pharaonic settlement sites in Nubia (northern Sudan) were analysed to investigate the presence and origin of organic binding materials. The town of Sai was founded around the time of the pharaonic conquest of Kush (Upper Nubia) around 1500 BC, with Amara West created as a new centre for the pharaonic administration of the region around 1300 BC. Recent fieldwork at both sites yielded examples of paint palettes, including several from houses. These provide a different economic and social context to funerary contexts upon which most previous research has been conducted, making this study the first to report on binding media for vernacular architecture in the Nile Valley. It is also the first study of binding media from Nubia. Gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis of methanolysed and silylated paint and plaster samples revealed a range of monosaccharides present in eight of the seventeen samples from Amara West, and in six of the seven samples from Sai. Interpretation of the data was supported by field collection and study of locally available botanical gums. The results indicate that mixtures of gums were in use as a pigment binder at both sites during the mid- to late-second millennium BC. The possibility that some of these plant gums could have been imported from the Mediterranean is also posited.

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Section: The Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Sitesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Polysaccharide Paint Binding Media at Two Pharaonic Settlements in Nubia

Fulcher

Spencer

Budka³

et al. 2022

Heritage

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“…These results suggest that the embalmers used the substances for their specific biochemical properties, as Pistacia resin, elemi, dammar, oils, bitumen and beeswax have antibacterial or antifungal and odoriferous properties, and thus help to preserve human tissue and reduce unpleasant smells 4,33,42,44 . Animal fat, plant oil and beeswax were also essential ingredients in recipes for the treatment of different body parts, as well as in ointments used to moisturize the skin 48 .…”

Section: Properties and Management Of Substancesmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…Bitumen was found in two vessels recovered from the burial chambers at locations 3 and 4, based on the characteristic hopanes and steranes 3 , 23 , 43 , 44 (Extended Data Fig. 5 ).…”

Section: Organic Residue Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biomolecular analyses enable new insights into ancient Egyptian embalming

Rageot

Hussein

Beck

et al. 2023

Nature

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The ability of the ancient Egyptians to preserve the human body through embalming has not only fascinated people since antiquity, but also has always raised the question of how this outstanding chemical and ritual process was practically achieved. Here we integrate archaeological, philological and organic residue analyses, shedding new light on the practice and economy of embalming in ancient Egypt. We analysed the organic contents of 31 ceramic vessels recovered from a 26th Dynasty embalming workshop at Saqqara1,2. These vessels were labelled according to their content and/or use, enabling us to correlate organic substances with their Egyptian names and specific embalming practices. We identified specific mixtures of fragrant or antiseptic oils, tars and resins that were used to embalm the head and treat the wrappings using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analyses. Our study of the Saqqara workshop extends interpretations from a micro-level analysis highlighting the socio-economic status of a tomb owner3–7 to macro-level interpretations of the society. The identification of non-local organic substances enables the reconstruction of trade networks that provided ancient Egyptian embalmers with the substances required for mummification. This extensive demand for foreign products promoted trade both within the Mediterranean8–10 (for example, Pistacia and conifer by-products) and with tropical forest regions (for example, dammar and elemi). Additionally, we show that at Saqqara, antiu and sefet—well known from ancient texts and usually translated as ‘myrrh’ or ‘incense’11–13 and ‘a sacred oil’13,14—refer to a coniferous oils-or-tars-based mixture and an unguent with plant additives, respectively.

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Reshaping Egyptian funerary ritual in colonized Nubia? Organic characterization of unguents from mortuary contexts of the New Kingdom (c. 1550–1070 BCE)

Lemos,

Fulcher,

Abdllatief

et al. 2023

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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Samples taken from the canopic jars of Djehutyhotep, chief of Tehkhet (Debeira), Lower Nubia, and local versions of Egyptian canopic jars from Sai, Upper Nubia, suggest that the materials used for mortuary ritual unguents in Nubia may have differed from those used in Egypt. Nubian samples consisted of plant gum and bitumen, whereas those from Egypt conformed to the standardizing black resinous liquid recipe used for mummification and other funerary rituals. However, there may be time frame issues to be considered as most samples analyzed from Egypt date to later periods. A standard black funerary liquid was used at Amara West, Upper Nubia, probably poured over a wrapped body, which might suggest that the gum and bitumen mixture was reserved for filling canopic jars, perhaps indicating that the use of canopic jars in Nubia differed from their use in Egypt. Evidence from the canopic jars of Djehutyhotep, local versions of canopic jars from Sai, and the sample from Amara West also indicate a source of bitumen that was not the Dead Sea, which was the main (although not only) source used in Egypt. The new results from the analysis of the Djehutyhotep canopic jars and previously published results from Sai point towards alternative ritual practices associated with local conceptions and uses of canopic jars in colonized Nubia. These samples and data from Amara West further reveal that the bitumen used in mortuary contexts in Nubia originated elsewhere than bitumen used in Egypt, which might have implications for our understanding of colonized Nubia as part of other trade networks independently from Egypt.

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Pigments, incense, and bitumen from the New Kingdom town and cemetery on Sai Island in Nubia

Cited by 5 publications

References 48 publications

Polysaccharide Paint Binding Media at Two Pharaonic Settlements in Nubia

Polysaccharide Paint Binding Media at Two Pharaonic Settlements in Nubia

Biomolecular analyses enable new insights into ancient Egyptian embalming

Reshaping Egyptian funerary ritual in colonized Nubia? Organic characterization of unguents from mortuary contexts of the New Kingdom (c. 1550–1070 BCE)

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