In the Egyptian Museum since the 1900s, the mummy affectionately known as Fred has provided scientists with the recipe used for ancient embalming. It also shows bodies were embalmed 1,500 years earlier than thought.
Image: Imago/Insidefoto/G. Perottino
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The 3,600-year-old mummy called Fred at the Turin Museum had been untouched by modern chemicals and had not been previously studied by scientists. He was therefore an ideal subject for study under the microscope for the components of the paste used to embalm him.
The ingredients turned out to be plant oils mixed with plant gum or sugars and heated conifer resin with aromatic plant extracts to keep off microbial growth. The balm would have formed a "sort of a sticky brown paste" which was either smeared on the body or applied onto bandages before wrapping, according to the research published in the Journal of Archaeological Science on Thursday.
"The examination of the Turin body makes a momentous contribution to our limited knowledge of the prehistoric period and the expansion of early mummification practices, as well as providing vital, new information on this particular mummy," co-author Jana Jones, who is an egyptologist at Macquarie University, said.
The pyramids: mysterious graves of the ancient Egyptians
As research teams reveal another secret contained within the great Cheops Pyramid in Giza that was built by the ancient Egyptians, we explore why research on these architectural miracles has a long way to go.
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A newly-discovered grave chamber or just empty space?
In 2015, French researchers detected a possible void above a descending corridor. But after several instances in recent years of supposedly newly-discovered pyramid chambers that remained unproven, the researchers sought to back the clue up with quantifiable proof. Now it's official: there is indeed a gap within the structure. But is it a chamber?
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Measuring a mystery
In May 2016, scientists set up a device in front of the Cheops Pyramid that can register muon particles, a byproduct of cosmic radiation. Measurements revealed a void at least 30 meters in length (99 feet) within the largest pyramid at Giza.
The French and Japanese scientists installed detectors in the Cheops Pyramid's interior passageways as well. Muon particles function like x-rays in a human body but can penetrate hundreds of meters of rock. A small portion are deflected — and the differing quantities of particles passing through the stone allow researchers to draw conclusions about wall thickness.
Located on the west bank of the Nile at the edge of the Egyptian desert about 20 kilometers (13 miles) from Cairo's city center, these pyramids are the last surviving ancient wonders of the world — and the largest made by man. They are among the best known and oldest structures of humanity, dating back over 4,500 years.
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Wonders of antiquity
This photo of the sphinx in front of the Cheops Pyramid was made in 1963 before it had been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. That happened in 1979, when the Cheops Pyramid and many others were inducted as part of the complex titled "Memphis and its City of the Dead — the Pyramid Fields from Giza to Dahshur."
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A desert mystery, now an object of research at the edge of the city
Back in 1335, a monk from Lower Saxony named Otto von Nienhusen visited the pyramids of Giza and was able to view the interior of the Cheops Pyramid. In the late 18th century, British and German archaeologists began exploring it. Now there's fresh hope that new scientific methods can reveal tunnels and perhaps even grave chambers.
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Earlier mummies
In the 1990s, Jones studied ancient mummy wrappings dating to about 6,600 years ago. They too showed remnants of an embalming resin, indicating the same embalming process had been followed by the Egyptians thousands of years earlier than previously thought.
Jones said: "By combining chemical analysis with visual examination of the body, genetic investigations, radiocarbon dating and microscopic analysis of the linen wrappings, we confirmed that this ritual mummification process took place around 3,600 BC on a male, aged between 20 and 30 years when he died."
After being wrapped in resin bandages, the mummy would have been placed in hot sand so the balm preservatives could act to keep the body safe.
Later mummies were laid flat in tombs far from the sun. As a precaution, their brain and other organs were removed, and a salt called natron was applied to dry the body.
The aim was to preserve the body for the afterlife, and give the spirit a place to reside.
