Scientists studied the scents of ancient Egyptian mummies, revealing embalming materials and conservation effects.

The scents wafting off an ancient corpse do not seem like they would smell all that pleasant. But researchers got […]

The research, published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, involved sniffing nine mummies, some dating back 5,000 years, housed at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Instead of the expected repulsive odors, participants described the scents as “woody”, “spicy”, and “sweet”, with hints of floral notes.

Even around 5,000 years after their embalming, Strlič and collaborators described the bodies as smelling “pleasant.” This is largely thanks to the materials applied to the mummies, which included scented waxes, coniferous resins and oils made from pine, cedar, and juniper, as well as gum resins such as frankincense and myrrh.

The ancient Egyptians were not the first culture to mummify their dead, but they practically perfected the practice by wrapping and preserving millions of people and animals throughout the centuries. The earliest Egyptian mummies discovered by archaeologists date to around 3500 B.C., well before the Great Pyramid of Giza was built.

Scent was an important consideration in the mummification process that used oils, waxes and balms to preserve the body and its spirit for the afterlife. The practice was largely reserved for pharaohs and nobility and pleasant smells were associated with purity and deities while bad odors were signs of corruption and decay.

The team’s approach could inspire museums to entertain visitors with odorous features such as smellscapes. In fact, the researchers now plan to reconstruct the smell of ancient mummified bodies in order to share this nontraditional approach to studying Egyptian mummies, as well as highlight an ancient olfactory heritage.

Scientists used an 'electronic nose' (and good old biological sniffers) to reveal the scents of ancient mummies.