Ancient Egyptians Embalmed the Dead Far Earlier Than Expected: New History of Mummies

Mummification has been happening for thousands of years but now, researchers have found that it may have started far earlier than originally thought. They've discovered new evidence that reveals mummification may have started in ancient Egypt about 1,500 years earlier than previously thought.

Traditional theories state that during the Late Neolithic and Predynastic periods between 4,500 and 3,100 B.C., bodies were naturally desiccated through the action of the hot, dry desert sand. Then, the early use of resins in artificial mummification began to occur during the late Old Kingdom around 2,200 B.C.  Yet scientists have now identified the presence of complex embalming agents in linen wrappings from bodies that were buried far earlier.

"For over a decade, I have been intrigued by early and cryptic reports of the methods of wrapping bodies at the Neolithic cemetaries at Badari and Mostagedda," said Jana Jones, one of the researchers, in a news release. "In 2002, I examined samples of funerary textiles from these sites that had been sent to various museums in the United Kingdom through the 1930s from Egypt. Microscopic analysis with my colleague Mr. Ron Oldfield revealed resins were likely to have been used, but I wasn't able to confirm my theories, or their significance, without tapping into my York colleague's unique knowledge of ancient organic compounds."

The researchers used a combination of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and sequential thermal desorption/pyrolysis in order to identify a pine resin, an aromatic plant extract, a plant gum/sugar, a natural petroleum source, and a plant oil/animal fat on the wrappings. This showed that this mummification predated the earliest scientific evidence by more than a millennium.

"The antibacterial properties of some of these ingredients that the localized soft-tissue preservation that they would have afforded lead us to conclude that these represent the very beginnings of experimentation that would evolve into the mummification practice of the Pharaonic period," said Stephen Buckley, one of the researchers.

The findings reveal that mummification occurred far earlier than previously thought. This, in particular, shows that there are still discoveries to be made-even when it comes to such a well-studied culture, such as ancient Egypt.

The findings are published in the journal PLOS One.