What does a mummy smell like? Woodsy and sweet, with 'note of pistachio'

Sheena Goodyear · CBC Radio

· Posted: Sep 15, 2023 5:08 PM EDT | Last Updated: 30 minutes ago

If you thought past Egyptian mummies smelled similar rot and decay, you'd beryllium dormant wrong.

Scientists person recreated the scent of the embalming fluid utilized to sphere a noblewoman much than 3,500 years agone — and they accidental it's rather lovely, indeed.

"The ascendant aroma is decidedly a woody benignant of pine-like scent," archaeologist Barbara Huber told As It Happens big Nil Köksal.

"But it besides has a hint of bitumen, a small spot of beeswax, thing sweet, and you mightiness adjacent beryllium capable to prime up a fresh, citrusy enactment of pistachio. So it's a precise pleasant smell."

Huber, a doctoral researcher astatine the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology successful Germany, is the pb writer of a caller survey that utilized a elaborate investigation of past Egyptian mummification equipment to recreate an olfactory experience. It was published past period successful the diary Scientific Reports.

They've dubbed their instauration "Scent of Eternity" and it volition beryllium a portion of an "an immersive, multisensory experience" astatine the Moesgaard Museum successful Denmark adjacent month. 

The squad extrapolated the scents by analyzng the compounds recovered successful the residues of 2 canopic jars — vessels utilized to store a person's mummified organs — from the tomb of a noblewoman called Senetnay.

They recovered traces of what they fishy are beeswax, works oil, fats, bitumen, a balsamic substance and assorted types of histrion resins, including cedar and pine.

The scientists who identified the materials past worked with French perfumer Carole Calvez and sensory museologist Sofia Collette Ehrich to recreate the scent successful a lab.

"Working with the perfumer, I truly learned that blending the antithetic ingredients unneurotic is an creation for itself," Huber said.  "And I request to say, like, this is not an implicit 100 per cent recreation. This is the mentation of the perfume."

Vast commercialized networks

University of Saskatchewan archaeologist Caroline Arbuckle MacLeod, who was not progressive successful the research, called it "a truly fantabulous study."

"There are truthful fewer technological studies of the remnants of mummification materials that each 1 truly is precise significant," Arbuckle MacLeod told CBC.

"It adds to our knowing of however these recipes mightiness beryllium antithetic successful antithetic individuals and however they mightiness person evolved implicit time."

Arbuckle MacLeod, who studies the usage of woody coffins successful past Egypt, was peculiarly intrigued that 1 of the jars contained the compound larixol — which the survey says is suggestive of larch resin.

That's surprising, she said, due to the fact that larch trees turn chiefly successful Europe.

"That's commercialized going crossed the Mediterranean into the depths of Europe, which astatine this constituent this, this is successful the New Kingdom, that would beryllium precise aboriginal for that," she said. "So this would beryllium beauteous phenomenal."

In fact, astir of the materials identified successful the jars would person been imported from determination else.

"The ingredients successful the balm marque it wide that the past Egyptians were sourcing materials from beyond their realm from an aboriginal date," Nicole Boivin, a elder researcher connected the project, said successful a property release.

Don't amusement up stinky to the afterlife

Huber says it's not astonishing past Egyptians would utilized specified pleasant smells successful their balms, fixed what we cognize astir their beliefs.

"The main intent of mummification was preserving the assemblage for the afterlife. But it was besides precise important to the past Egyptians not to stink successful the afterlife," she said.

"When the assemblage is intact, past your psyche tin travel backmost into the assemblage successful the afterlife, and you tin unrecorded connected for eternity. And if your assemblage decays — and they person truly vivid pictures astir that successful their past texts —  they accidental the assemblage becomes countless worms."

And scent, Arbuckle MacLeod says, was a precise important portion of past Egyptian culture. 

Noblewomen were known to deterioration scented cones, and perfumes were cardinal elements successful galore rituals and traditions, including those performed to honour the dead. 

"There's tons of texts successful past Egypt that marque it wide that scent was a truly evocative consciousness for them and they would usage it successful antithetic ways successful the temples and successful tombs it to evoke antithetic spiritual elements," she said.

Huber hopes the constituent of odor astatine the Moesgaard Museum volition bring past to beingness successful a precise visceral mode for people. 

"You're not conscionable going determination to spot antithetic things oregon work it oregon perceive it connected an audio guide. You should beryllium capable to besides benignant of participate, and beryllium transported backmost to past Egypt by yourself, and besides get antithetic recollections and memories that are personal, perhaps," she said.

Asked if she'd see bottling and selling the Scent of Eternity arsenic a perfume oregon diffuser, she laughed.

"I could wholly spot that," she said. "But it's a small spot retired of my comfortableness zone. I deliberation I volition instrumentality to the subject and past fto different radical marketplace it.