The headline takeaway is scale and sensitivity: the team reported identifying 81 distinct VOCs. Those compounds clustered into four main ingredient groups linked to ancient embalming practice - fats ...

If you have ever stood close to an ancient Egyptian mummy, you may remember a distinctive, lingering odor. For a long time, ...

As previously reported, Egyptian embalming is thought to have begun in the Predynastic Period or earlier, when people noticed that the arid desert heat tended to dry and preserve bodies buried in the ...

The art of mummification has long been shrouded in mystery, but new research shows the musty smell of mummified remains helps ...

Learn how traces on Egyptian mummification jars were used to make perfume, bringing ancient fragrances and societies back to life.

In the hushed halls of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, the air isn’t just thick with history. A new study has for the first time systematically studied the smell of ancient Egyptian mummies. These ...

A new study shows how ancient Egyptian mummy scent contains chemical clues that uncover embalming methods used thousands of ...

Scientists have revealed what ancient Egyptian mummies smell like and have said the mummified remains smelt ‘woody,’ ‘spicy’ and ‘sweet.’ The study took place in Cairo, Egypt, by researchers from UCL ...

Excerpted from Dinner with King Tut: How Rogue Archaeologists Are Re-creating the Sights, Sounds, Smells, and Tastes of Lost Civilizations by Sam Kean. Copyright ...