Researchers recreate fragrance of ancient Egyptian mummy

Cutting-edge chemical technology has allowed scientists to recreate the scent of the embalming fluid used on an Egyptian noblewoman some 3500 years ago, which has been dubbed “the scent of eternity”. 

The fluid was used to preserve the remains of the Egyptian mummy, Senetnai, who lived around 1450 BC, was a wet nurse who worked for Pharaoh Amenhotep II, for eternal rest in the afterlife. The fluid contained a complex mix of ingredients including beeswax, resin from the pine family, coumarin (a vanilla-like aroma) and benzoic acid.

The less pleasant scent of the fluid comes from the use of bitumen, which the Egyptians used to prevent moisture and insects from harming the organs.

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Researchers are working hard to understand the exact components of the fluid and have found international ingredients. Not only did many ingredients come from outside Egypt, including resins from pine trees, but a fragrant resinous substance believed to be from a tree found in Southeast Asia was also discovered in the remains.

The absence of written descriptions in ancient Egypt texts has made tracing the exact ingredients involved a difficult task, but modern analytical techniques have given scientists the power to piece together the ingredients.

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The scent was created by working closely with a French perfumer and sensory expert, and will be on display at an exhibition in Denmark in the coming months. This recreation of the past is being hailed as a “time machine” to enable people to experience ancient embalming practices from a sensory perspective, and better understand the cultural, historical and spiritual significance of the ancient Egyptians’ funerary practices.