德国慕尼黑大学Stockhammer, Philipp W.研究团队报道了生物分子分析为古埃及的防腐提供新见解。相关研究成果发表在2023年2月1日出版的《自然》。

古埃及人通过防腐来保存人体的能力不仅自古以来就让人们着迷，而且也一直提出这样一个问题：这种杰出的化学和仪式过程是如何实现的。

该文中，研究人员综合考古、文献学和有机残留物分析，为古埃及防腐的实践和经济性提供了新的视角。研究分析了从Saqqara第26王朝防腐作坊中回收的31个陶瓷器皿的有机物含量。这些容器根据其内容和/或用途进行了标记，使研究人员能够将有机物质与其埃及名称和具体防腐做法联系起来。研究人员使用气相色谱-质谱分析鉴定了用于防腐头部和处理包装物的芳香或防腐油、焦油和树脂的特定混合物。

研究人员对Saqqara作坊的研究从强调墓主人社会经济地位的微观层面分析扩展到对社会的宏观层面解释。非本地有机物质的鉴定使贸易网络得以重建，为古埃及防腐人员提供木乃伊制作所需的物质。这种对外国产品的广泛需求促进了地中海（例如，黄连木和针叶树副产品）和热带森林地区（例如，dammar 和 elemi）的贸易。此外，研究还发现，从古代文本中众所周知的Saqqara, antiu and sefet，通常被翻译为“没药”或“熏香”和“圣油”，分别指的是针叶树油或焦油基混合物以及含有植物添加剂的软膏。

附：英文原文

Title: Biomolecular analyses enable new insights into ancient Egyptian embalming

Author: Rageot, Maxime, Hussein, Ramadan B., Beck, Susanne, Altmann-Wendling, Victoria, Ibrahim, Mohammed I. M., Bahgat, Mahmoud M., Yousef, Ahmed M., Mittelstaedt, Katja, Filippi, Jean-Jacques, Buckley, Stephen, Spiteri, Cynthianne, Stockhammer, Philipp W.

Issue&Volume: 2023-02-01

Abstract: The ability of the ancient Egyptians to preserve the human body through embalming has not only fascinated people since antiquity, but also has always raised the question of how this outstanding chemical and ritual process was practically achieved. Here we integrate archaeological, philological and organic residue analyses, shedding new light on the practice and economy of embalming in ancient Egypt. We analysed the organic contents of 31 ceramic vessels recovered from a 26th Dynasty embalming workshop at Saqqara1,2. These vessels were labelled according to their content and/or use, enabling us to correlate organic substances with their Egyptian names and specific embalming practices. We identified specific mixtures of fragrant or antiseptic oils, tars and resins that were used to embalm the head and treat the wrappings using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry analyses. Our study of the Saqqara workshop extends interpretations from a micro-level analysis highlighting the socio-economic status of a tomb owner3,4,5,6,7 to macro-level interpretations of the society. The identification of non-local organic substances enables the reconstruction of trade networks that provided ancient Egyptian embalmers with the substances required for mummification. This extensive demand for foreign products promoted trade both within the Mediterranean8,9,10 (for example, Pistacia and conifer by-products) and with tropical forest regions (for example, dammar and elemi). Additionally, we show that at Saqqara, antiu and sefet—well known from ancient texts and usually translated as ‘myrrh’ or ‘incense’11,12,13 and ‘a sacred oil’13,14—refer to a coniferous oils-or-tars-based mixture and an unguent with plant additives, respectively.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-05663-4

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-05663-4