{"id":603571,"date":"2023-02-01T10:02:00","date_gmt":"2023-02-01T16:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.sellorbuyhomefast.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/01\/how-to-make-a-mummy-ancient-egyptian-workshop-has-new-clues\/"},"modified":"2023-02-01T10:02:00","modified_gmt":"2023-02-01T16:02:00","slug":"how-to-make-a-mummy-ancient-egyptian-workshop-has-new-clues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/01\/how-to-make-a-mummy-ancient-egyptian-workshop-has-new-clues\/","title":{"rendered":"How to make a mummy: Ancient Egyptian workshop has new clues"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<section id=\"content\" data-type=\"dtc\">\n<header>\n<div>\n<p><span>MADDIE BURAKOFF<\/span>,\u00a0<span>AP Science Writer<\/span><\/p>\n<p><time datetime=\"2023-02-01 16:04:04\">Feb. 1, 2023<\/time><time datetime=\"2023-02-01 16:04:04\">Updated: Feb. 1, 2023 2:10\u00a0p.m.<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<section data-layout=\"default\" data-total=\"6\" data-guid=\"article_17756670_gallery\" data-title aria-label=\"carousel\" role=\"region\">\n<p>This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate<\/p>\n<div>\n<figure id=\"1-image-23425466\" data-slide-number=\"1\" data-slide-id=\"23425466\" role=\"group\" aria-label=\"1 of 6\">\n<picture data-width=\"2048\" data-height=\"1153\"><source  media=\"(min-width: 1292px)\"><source  media=\"(min-width: 1230px)\"><source  media=\"(min-width: 1168px)\"><source  media=\"(min-width: 1106px)\"><source  media=\"(min-width: 1044px)\"><source  media=\"(min-width: 982px)\"><source  media=\"(min-width: 920px)\"><source  media=\"(min-width: 858px)\"><source  media=\"(min-width: 796px)\"><source  media=\"(min-width: 734px)\"><source  media=\"(min-width: 672px)\"><source  media=\"(min-width: 610px)\"><source  media=\"(min-width: 548px)\"><source  media=\"(min-width: 486px)\"><source  media=\"(min-width: 424px)\"><source  media=\"(min-width: 362px)\"><source  media=\"(min-width: 300px)\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s.hdnux.com\/photos\/01\/31\/27\/06\/23425466\/3\/1200x0.jpg\" alt=\"This illustration provided by Nikola Nevenov in January 2023 depicts a priest during an embalming process in an underground chamber in Saqqara, Egypt. For thousands of years, ancient Egyptians mummified their dead to help them reach eternal life. According to study\u00a0published Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023, in the journal Nature, researchers have used chemistry and an unusual collection of jars to figure out how they did it. (Nikola Nevenov via AP)\"><\/picture><figcaption><span>1<span>of<\/span>6<\/span><span>This illustration provided by Nikola Nevenov in January 2023 depicts a priest during an embalming process in an underground chamber in Saqqara, Egypt. For thousands of years, ancient Egyptians mummified their dead to help them reach eternal life. According to study\u00a0published Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023, in the journal Nature, researchers have used chemistry and an unusual collection of jars to figure out how they did it. (Nikola Nevenov via AP)<\/span><span>Nikola Nevenov\/AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<ul data-current=\"1\">\n<li data-current=\"1\" aria-label=\"Go to slide 1\"><svg><circle cx=\"4\" cy=\"4\" r=\"4\" fill=\"#adadad\" \/><\/svg><\/li>\n<li aria-label=\"Go to slide 2\"><svg><circle cx=\"4\" cy=\"4\" r=\"4\" fill=\"#adadad\" \/><\/svg><\/li>\n<li aria-label=\"Go to slide 3\"><svg><circle cx=\"4\" cy=\"4\" r=\"4\" fill=\"#adadad\" \/><\/svg><\/li>\n<li aria-label=\"Go to slide 4\"><svg><circle cx=\"4\" cy=\"4\" r=\"4\" fill=\"#adadad\" \/><\/svg><\/li>\n<li aria-label=\"Go to slide 5\"><svg><circle cx=\"4\" cy=\"4\" r=\"4\" fill=\"#adadad\" \/><\/svg><\/li>\n<li aria-label=\"Go to slide 6\"><svg><circle cx=\"4\" cy=\"4\" r=\"4\" fill=\"#adadad\" \/><\/svg><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n<p>NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 For thousands of years, ancient Egyptians mummified their dead in the search for eternal life. Now, researchers have used chemistry and an unusual collection of jars to figure out how they did it.<\/p>\n<p>Their study, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, is based on a rare archaeological find: An embalming workshop with a trove of pottery around 2,500 years old. Many jars from the site were still inscribed with instructions like \u201cto wash\u201d or \u201cto put on his head.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"paywall\">\n<p>By matching the writing on the outside of the vessels with the chemical traces inside, researchers uncovered new details about the \u201crecipes\u201d that helped preserve bodies for thousands of years.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s like a time machine, really,\u201d said Joann Fletcher, an archaeologist at University of York who was not involved with the study. \u201cIt\u2019s allowed us to not quite see over the shoulders of the ancient embalmers, but probably as close as we\u2019ll ever get.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Those recipes showed that embalmers had deep knowledge about what substances would help preserve their dead, said Fletcher, whose partner was a co-author on the study. And they included materials from far-flung parts of the world \u2014 meaning Egyptians went to great lengths to make their mummies \u201cas perfect as they could possibly be.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The workshop \u2014 uncovered in 2016 by study author Ramadan Hussein, who passed away last year \u2014 is located in the famous burial grounds of Saqqara. Parts of it sit above the surface, but a shaft stretches down to an embalming room and burial chamber underground, where the jars were discovered.<\/p>\n<p>It was in rooms like these where the last phase of the process took place, said Salima Ikram, an Egyptologist at The American University in Cairo who was not involved with the study. After drying out the the body with salts, which probably took place above ground, embalmers would then take the bodies below.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis was the last phase of your transformation where the secret rites, the religious rites, were being performed,\u201d Ikram said. \u201cPeople would be chanting spells and hymns while you were being wrapped and resin was being anointed all over your body.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Experts already had some clues about what substances were used in those final steps, mainly from testing individual mummies and looking at written texts. But a lot of gaps remained, said senior author Philipp Stockhammer, an archaeologist at Ludwig Maximilian University in Germany.<\/p>\n<p>The new finds helped crack the case.<\/p>\n<p>Take the word \u201cantiu,\u201d which shows up in a lot of Egyptian texts but didn&#8217;t have a direct translation, Stockhammer said. In the new study, scientists found that several jars labeled as \u201cantiu\u201d contained a mixture of different substances \u2014 including animal fat, cedar oil and juniper resin.<\/p>\n<p>These substances, along with others found in the jars, have key properties that would help preserve the mummies, said lead author Maxime Rageot, an archaeologist at Germany\u2019s University of Tubingen.<\/p>\n<p>Plant oils \u2014 which were used to protect the liver and treat the bandages \u2014 could ward off bacteria and fungi, while also improving the smell. Hard materials like beeswax, used on the stomach and skin, could help keep out water and seal the pores.<\/p>\n<p>Some of the substances came from very far away \u2014 like dammar and elemi, types of resin that come from the tropical rainforests of Southeast Asia. These results show that ancient Egyptians would trade far and wide to get the most effective materials, the authors said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s interesting to see the complexity,\u201d Stockhammer said. \u201cHaving this global network on the one hand, having all this chemical knowledge on the other side.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ikram said an important next step for the research will be to test different parts of actual mummies to see if the same substances show up. And these recipes probably weren&#8217;t universal \u2014 they changed over time and varied between workshops.<\/p>\n<p>Still, the study gives a basis for understanding the past, and can bring us closer to people who lived long ago, she said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe ancient Egyptians have been separated from us through time and space, yet we still have this connection,&#8221; Ikram said. &#8220;Human beings all throughout history have been scared of death.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n<p>The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute\u2019s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chron.com\/news\/article\/how-to-make-a-mummy-ancient-egyptian-workshop-17756670.php\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a><br \/>\n By MADDIE BURAKOFF, AP Science Writer<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MADDIE BURAKOFF,\u00a0AP Science Writer Feb. 1, 2023Updated: Feb. 1, 2023 2:10\u00a0p.m. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 1of6This illustration provided by Nikola Nevenov in January 2023 depicts a priest during an embalming process in an underground chamber in Saqqara, Egypt. For thousands of years, ancient Egyptians mummified their dead to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":603572,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38884,3350,534],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-603571","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mummy","8":"category-ancient","9":"category-financial"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=603571"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603571\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/603572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=603571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=603571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=603571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}