Ancient Egyptian mummified bodies

Ancient Egyptian mummification was a mortuary practice aimed at preserving the body and soul for the afterlife, achieved through a detailed ritual of embalming using oils, waxes, and balms. While most research on Egyptian mummified bodies has so far been conducted in European collections, our study focuses on the collection of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. The goal was to evaluate whether contemporary smells reflect the mummification materials and, if so, what information can be of value to collection interpretation and conservation. We combined panel-based sensory analyses with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry-olfactometry (GC-MS-O), microbiological analysis, and historical and conservation research. Apart from differences in odor intensity, the sensory analyses highlighted common olfactory descriptors for all samples: “woody”, “spicy”, and “sweet”. GC-MS-O identified four categories of volatiles based on their origin: (i) original mummification materials