Even after 5,000 years in a sarcophagus, mummified bodies from ancient Egypt still smell quite nice, scientists have discovered.
Researchers who examined nine mummies found that though there was some difference in the intensity of their odours, all could be described as “woody”, “spicy” and “sweet”.
They say recreating the composition of the smells chemically will allow others to experience a mummy’s whiff - and help to tell when the bodies inside may be starting to rot.
“We want to share the experience we had smelling the mummified bodies, so we’re reconstructing the smell to be presented in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo,” Cecilia Bembibre, one of the researchers, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
…
“In films and books, terrible things happen to those who smell mummified bodies,” said Dr Bembibre said.
“We were surprised at the pleasantness of them.”
Crush them up for a delicious steak seasoning rub
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mummy_brown
Someone really saw a mummy and said “you know what, this dead guy would make really great paint”
When I read the headline, I thought: “this is what we’re studying right now? Seems like some bigger problems…”. Then I remembered I’m not the target audience for archaeology
It’s not like there a bunch of scientists who can be assigned to whatever needs working on. I don’t imagine your average archaeologist would be much good at finding a cure for cancer or world politics.
They are very good at digging up the past that a lot of people refuse to learn from though, so every little helps.
Archaeology? I thought this was a cooking post