Scholars have long believed that the formation of Egyptian prehistoric mummies was purely accidental. However, more and more evidence shows that human intervention was involved in the preservation of these ancient dead.
(Reported by the mysterious earth uux.cn) According to National Geographic (Author: MAYA WEI-HAAS, Compiler: Shi Yishan): Prehistoric mummies revealed the earliest known "antiseptic ointment" known to the ancient Egyptians. This ointment is better than that produced in this area. The peak of mummification was about 2,500 years earlier.
This mummy lies in the posture of a fetus with delicately bent limbs. Although it is now sleeping in a museum in Turin, Italy, this fragile posture is believed to have been formed in Egypt thousands of years ago and was baked in the hot yellow sand near the Nile River.
This prehistoric mummy, about 5,600 years ago, looked like it was formed by chance at first, and it happened to be roasted in the desert into a crisp, anti-corrosion state. But new evidence points out that this Tulin mummy was not accidentally formed - and now scholars have spelled out the detailed formula of its antiseptic ointment.
The ancient Egyptian civilization, known for its pyramids, pharaohs, mummies and ancient tombs, flourished for thousands of years. But what impact did it leave? Take a look at how ancient Egypt contributed to society with many cultural developments, especially in language and mathematics. The ingredient list of
represents the earliest known Egyptian antiseptic ointment, approximately 2,500 years before the peak of mummification in the region. However, this early formula is very similar to the later antiseptic ointment, the ointment used by the ancient Egyptians in a large number of rituals to assist nobles like King Tut into the afterlife.
"The connection is really interesting," Shi Duhua. Tyson. Stuart Tyson Smith said he was an archaeologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara and did not participate in the study. "This gives us a piece of good puzzle that we didn't have before." The breakthrough moment
published in the Journal of Archaeological Science on August 15th, this study is based on decades of rigorous prehistoric mummification. the study. Research co-author Yana. Jana Jones is an Egyptologist at Macquarie University. Her research on this early mummy production was inspired by the early 1990s when she was studying the ancient mummy shroud about 6,600 years ago.
Jones placed the shroud under the microscope, and was shocked: the cloth appeared to contain the residue of antiseptic resin, a compound commonly seen in later mummies. "It's an incredible feeling," she said.
The evidence under the microscope alone is not enough to claim that the Egyptians embalmed the dead thousands of years earlier than originally thought. Careful chemical analysis is also required, and it took Jones and her team ten years to complete these analyses. "This is the curse of the mummy," she joked. In 2014, the research team finally confirmed the findings on the shroud and published the results in the journal PLOS ONE.
"This is a breakthrough moment." Stephen. Buckley (Stephen Buckley) said that he is an archaeological chemist and mummy-making expert, responsible for leading the chemical analysis of the 2014 and latest research.
However, some experts are skeptical, Jones said. The research team lacks evidence from the mummified entity, because these cloths have been separated from the owner they are wrapped in for a long time. So they turned to study Durin's mummies for more clues.
Antiseptic formula decryption
Duhring's mummies-he is often nicknamed "Fred"-has been in the Egyptian Museum of Duolin, Italy since the early 1900s, and has not touched contemporary preservatives , Has not been studied by scientists. The
researchers took samples from the mummies to conduct a series of experiments to figure out the exact chemical composition of the ancient antiseptic formula. They found that the ointment was based on vegetable oil, then mixed with vegetable gum or sugar, heated conifer resin, and aromatic plant extracts. The latter two components are especially important because theyThey can stop the breeding of microorganisms. The composition of the
mummies is not only similar to the ointment used in Egypt thousands of years later, but also very similar to the chemical composition identified by scholars on the prehistoric mummies. "This undoubtedly confirms our previous research." Jones said.
Since all prehistoric mummies were bent limbs and their organs are still in their dry bodies, they are a far cry from the classic mummies that would appear in your brain when you think of Egypt. But the basic concept behind the antiseptic ointment remains the same. The
balm forms "some kind of thick brown paste," Jones said. The anti-corrosion treatment personnel will dip the bandage with ointment before wrapping the body, or apply the paste directly on the body. Then the mummies were placed in the hot yellow sand, and Yanri and the balm preservatives would work together to protect the corpse. The "classic" mummies after
are more often lying flat and buried in tombs away from the sun. Therefore, Barkley said, embalming personnel must take additional steps, such as removing the brain and other organs, and dehydrating the corpse with a salt called soda. The
reconstruction formula
research also shows that the geographical distribution of early anti-corrosion treatment is broader than previously known. The shroud analyzed in the earlier study was located more than 160 kilometers north of the possible location where the Durin mummies were preserved.
So how did the ancient Egyptians come up with antiseptic formula so long ago?
"Some of these ingredients may be symbolic at first," Barkley guessed: "But they then noticed that these materials have antiseptic properties." The team is studying sites where early antiseptic materials experiments were conducted, Barkley said, suggesting They will have new publications in the future.
Ron. Retired Director of the Anatomy Service at the University of Maryland. Ronn Wade praised the thoroughness of this new study. In 1994, under the auspices of National Geographic, Wade replicated the mummy-making process in Egypt with contemporary human bodies.
"It would be nice if we had this information when we were making mummies," he said, "It would be very interesting."
100% popular science. Help popularize science in China and make scientific knowledge popular online and in life . Reminder: The above is 100% of the content browsed on the Internet. Reprinting and sharing are only for knowledge dissemination and learning promotion. The content of this article only represents the original author's point of view. If you have any suggestions, please leave a private message and we will deal with it in time. Welcome attention, thank you.
