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The chemistry of mummification – traces of a global network

Posted on 2 February 2023

A University of York academic was part of an international team of researchers who have shed new light on the chemical substances used by the Egyptian embalmers.

Saqqara Step Pyramid. Credit: Dr Stephen Buckley

Dr Stephen Buckley, from the University’s Department of Archaeology and a member of BioArCh, was part of a team of experts that examined the organic residues found in dozens of ceramic vessels discovered in an embalming workshop.

The workshop was used 2,500 years ago by a team who preserved bodies destined for one of their kingdom’s principal burial grounds — the necropolis of Saqqara, around 18 miles south of modern-day Cairo.

Analysing

When the workshop was unearthed in 2016, researchers discovered dozens of ceramic vessels inside, still containing the substances used for mummification. Better still, many of these jars were labelled, and some even had instructions for their use.

By analysing the residue on these, researchers from the University of York, the National Research Centre, Cairo, LMU Munich and the University of Tübingen provide new understanding into how the ancient Egyptians embalmed the bodies of their dead and the recipes that they used and where these materials came from.

Evidence

Dr Stephen Buckley, Department of Archaeology, the University of York, said: “This research builds on the chemical evidence to date which shows that the embalmers knew and understood the properties of the recipes for the preservation of the body, in addition to their symbolic and ritualistic role in the funerary process. 

“They were clearly excellent empirical chemists, able to employ many natural products according to their chemical properties and their resulting antibacterial, insecticidal and other preservative qualities.”

Prior to this discovery, the only surviving written accounts for Egyptian mummification were composed by visiting Greeks, the main one being the historian Herodotus who described the process in some detail c.450 BC. This new research focuses on material from Egypt’s Saite Period (664-525 BC) dating to just before Herodotus’ time.

Misunderstandings

Professor Joann Fletcher, Department of Archaeology, the University of York, who was not involved with the study, said: “Before this study, there were real areas of uncertainty when it came to several areas of Egyptian mummification, from the actual places in which the process was carried out to the materials the Egyptian employed to preserve the body. 

“There was still a lot of ‘guess work’ when it came to accurately identifying such embalming resins, and numerous attempts to match these up to the ancient Egyptian words for them.”

The workshop jars have helped to correct misunderstandings. Dr Buckley, said: “One of the great historical debates within Egyptology over the last century has been over one of the key ingredients in Egyptian mummification mentioned by Herodotus and usually translated as ‘cedar’, but with others suggesting juniper oil is more likely. 

“This study identifies both cedar and juniper products in the embalming recipes, suggesting advocates for both cedar and juniper were equally right!”

Global networking

The research evidences that substances used in the recipes included materials from far-flung parts of the world, including the whole Mediterranean region, tropical rainforests and even Southeast Asia – evidence of early global networking.

Dr Buckley, said: “We’ve long known that some of the key preservative ingredients employed in Egyptian mummification were imported from outside Egypt, primarily from the Near East, and that the Egyptians were importing commodities from as far as Afghanistan as early as c.3,400 BC, but the identification of dammar resin is notable given its nearest source is southern India.” 

“Clearly, Egypt was trading over enormous distances for some of the most exotic embalming ingredients, no doubt giving them great kudos, in addition to their undoubted preservative properties in the mummification process.”

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