The scent of Egyptian mummy says “woody, spicy and sweet”.

In Portuguese, we usually use the phrase “mummy smell” in a humorous tone to describe a unpleasant, airless or meticulous smell. However, we will need to review this concept soon: a research conducted with nine mummies To scientists, the “woody” flavors of these ruins, “spicy” and “desserts”.

Published in the magazine American Chemical Association MagazineThe study is the first study that performs a systematic analysis of the smell and chemistry of various corn mummies in different periods. In addition to the previous mentioned odor properties, some indicators of smoke, mold, flower, tea and dust, which are the residues of volatile organic compounds used during the mummification process, were also detected.

In an interview with BBC Radio 4s Today, Cecili Bebibre from London University College London (UCL) researcher, now the idea “sharing the experience we experience while smelling the mummified bodies, So we rebuild the smell to be presented at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo“.

How did the idea of ​​“smelling mummies” emerged?

The idea of ​​research came to chance when he visited a protection laboratory of Matija Stric, the main author of the chemist at Liubliana University of Slovenia and contacted a mummy. The preserved body has recently arrived from an excavation to the laboratory and has spread a surprisingly pleasant smell.

In an interview with Smithsonian Magazine, he describes the experience of Heritage Science Teacher: “Almost a cosmetic, pleasant sweet and herbal smell”. He had already heard the reports of the conservatives, explained that the mummies were pleasant and sweet when they were in good condition, or that they were a cruel smell if they worse. “But I spent this personally for the first time.”

In the study, like a wine tasting more than a task that smells mummies, the human Sniflators, which is evaluated directly or through chemical analysis, is the scents of nine thousand mummies stored or exhibited in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

How did the mummification of ancestors left the fragrant corpses for so long?

Faith, which inspired the construction of the pyramids, also caused the protection of the bodies of the dead to be a sacred practice for up to 70 days. The surgical procedure started with the removal of the brain by nostrils with special instruments and watched the internal organs extraction through a lateral incision, Apart from the heart, protected as the seat of emotions.

These organs were not thrown, but they were placed one by one in the canopic jars protected by the four children of God Horus. The body was then dehydrated with a natural salt called Natrão, which has antibacterial and degradation properties to remove the entire moisture.

Finally, the body was “purified iyle with the application of imported and expensive oils and resins such as wine, spices and incense, myrrh, cedar oil and juniper resin. These elements not only maintained the flexibility of the skin, but also a pleasant smell of those who died that the Egyptians were associated with divine qualities.

What is the importance of capturing the smell of mummy and how was it done in this practice?

To separate the different scents in the Serbians, each combined to form the characteristic aroma of each. Researchers used gas chromatographyA technique used to isolate odors in the perfume industry. With this, chemical compounds can be vaporized without the risk of decomposition.

The permission given by the curators of the Cairo Museum allowed an unexpected discovery of the samples to be caught directly in the sarcophagi: the specific scents of the animal oil decomposition. This told the bebibre BBC, Dr. Bebibre was a “warning sign ği in which the body could begin to decompose in time to provide an intervention to” reach future generations “.

For Stric, the use of technical instruments to measure and measure the emitted air molecules of sarcophagi allows the social class of Mumya and non -invasive inferences for curators and archaeologists. “We believe that this approach has potentially shows great interest in other museum collections,” the chemistry teacher said.

If you can, would you smell a mummy closely? Comment on this possibility in our social media and polish with your friends and followers. Naturally, let us consider the opportunity to read a Bulgarian man who turned into a mummy just two weeks after his death.