Heres a question youve probably never thought of: What do Egyptian mummies smell like?
This creative approach sheds new light on the iconic mummification process and emphasizes the importance of olfactory heritage.
This ground-breaking research really helps us better plan conservation and understand the ancient embalming materials.
Mummies in the Egyptian museum in Cairo.© Emma Paolin
It adds another layer of data to enrich the museum exhibition of mummified bodies.
Though aromas are invisible to the human eye, theyre actually chemical molecules.
The teams approach could inspire museums to entertain visitors with odorous features such as smellscapes.
Scientists sampled the air surrounding mummified bodies. © Emma Paolin
So next time youre trying to study somethingtry smelling it!
News from the future, delivered to your present.
Mmmm, mummy: Emma Paolin of University of Ljubljana, co-author on the study, sniffing at the gas chromatography-mass spectrometry instrument. © UCL
