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NY Post
New York Post
1 Sep 2023


NextImg:Scientists recreate what mummies smell like: ‘The scent of eternity’

It was kept under wraps for thousands of years.

Scientists have managed to identify and recreate the scent of elaborate mummifications used on a noblewoman of ancient Egypt circa 1450 BCE.

The not-so-gnarly balm — “consisting of beeswax, plant oil, fats, bitumen, Pinaceae resins, a balsamic substance, and dammar or Pistacia tree resin” — was used in the remarkably well-kept preservation of the high-ranking Senetnay, a wet nurse for pharaoh Amenhotep II known as the “Ornament of the King.”

The ancient female figure’s re-engineered, posthumous smell will be on display in the Moesgaard Museum in Denmark this fall, the Guardian reported. A model jar inscribed for Senetnay is already on display at The Met.

The new exhibit is being called, “The scent of the eternity.”

“These are the richest, most complex balms yet identified for this early time period,” the researchers wrote.

Remains from ancient Egyptian nobility, Senetnay, have been recreated for display this fall.
Christian Tepper/Museum August Kestner

“They highlight both the exceptional status of Senetnay and the myriad trade connections of the Egyptians in the 2nd millennium BCE,” they added, noting that some ingredients came from Central Europe.

Her canopic jars—- which contained Senetnay’s mummified organs which were given especially high-priority treatment — were discovered in the royal tomb King’s Valley 42 in 1900 in modern-day Luxor, Egypt.

The remains had been found by Howard Carter, the archeologist who rose to fame for his part in locating the tomb of Tutankhamun.

Researchers were able to recreate the scents from only a “thin layer of organic residue” that remained at the bottom of the empty jars.

It was also learned that they were individually preserved with unique scents from one other.

Scientists have recreated the scent of mummifications upon remains left in a woman of high Egyptian nobility.

Scientists have recreated the scent of mummifications using the remains left of a woman of high Egyptian nobility.
Courtesy Carole Calvez

“To our noses, the warm, resinous, pine-like odors of larch might be more reminiscent of cleaning products and the sulfurous scent of bitumen might put us in mind of asphalt,” Dr. William Tullett, a sensory history at the University of York, told the outlet.

“But for Egyptians, these smells clearly had a host of other meanings related to spirituality and social status.”