Scientists recreate the scent used in the mummification of an Egyptian woman 3,500 years ago – revealing the ‘perfume of the AFTERLIFE’

Perfume companies like to give their products names like Eternity and Forever.

But now, thanks to the ancient Egyptians, scientists have really put the “fragrance of eternity” in a bottle.

Researchers have recreated the smell of the embalming fluid used to preserve the remains of a mummy from the Valley of the Kings so she can live forever in the afterlife.

The fragrance sheds light on the ingenuity of the Egyptians nearly 3500 years ago in protecting the organs of Senetnay – a lady known as the ‘King’s Ornament’ as an important member of Pharaoh Amenhotep’s ‘entourage’ II, after she breastfed him as his wet nurse during his childhood.

The scent of the embalming fluid contains the sweet notes of beeswax, which is said to protect against bacteria, along with a vanilla-like scent of botanicals and the pine-like scent of tree resins.

The fragrance sheds light on the ingenuity of the Egyptians nearly 3500 years ago in protecting the organs of Senetnay – a lady known as the ‘King’s Ornament’ as an important member of Pharaoh Amenhotep’s ‘entourage’ II, after she breastfed him as his wet nurse during his childhood

However, it also carries with it the less fragrant, distinctive smell of a freshly paved road, as the ancient Egyptians used bitumen in mummification to seal organs against moisture and insects.

Researchers, who painstakingly worked out the ingredients of the embalming fluid and helped recreate its scent on paper perfume test strips, are excited because their analysis suggests that ancient Egypt may have engaged in international trade nearly a thousand years earlier than previously thought.

There was tantalizing evidence, from peppercorns in the nostrils of the mummy of the famous Pharaoh Ramses II, of trade with South India, as these peppercorns would only have been available there.

But now a fragrant resin called dammar, which the scientists believe they discovered in the embalming fluid used for Senetnay, suggests that international trade could have started much earlier, at the time of her death – 250 years before that of Ramesses II. .

Dammar would likely come from dipterocarp trees growing in Southeast Asia.

If the presence of dammar resin is confirmed, it could indicate that the ancient Egyptians accessed Southeast Asia nearly a millennium earlier than previously suggested.

Barbara Huber, who led the research at the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, said: ‘These results show how advanced the ancient Egyptian mummification process was – but recreating the scent of eternity is also like a time machine.

‘People are used to looking at mummies and reading museum descriptions, but because of this they actually experience what the past smelled like.’

Researchers, who painstakingly worked out the ingredients of the embalming fluid and helped recreate its scent on paper perfume test strips, are excited because their analysis suggests that ancient Egypt may have engaged in international trade nearly 1,000 years earlier than previously thought.

The ancient aroma will be presented in an upcoming exhibition at the Moesgaard Museum in Denmark, giving visitors a taste of the ancient Egyptian mummification process.

The scent of the embalming fluid contains the sweet notes of beeswax, which is said to protect against bacteria, along with a vanilla-like scent of botanicals and the pine-like scent of tree resins

It was recreated by taking samples from two jars containing Senetnay’s liver and lungs, which were removed more than a century ago by archaeologist Howard Carter from the famous Valley of the Kings in Thebes, now called Luxor.

The embalming fluid was broken up into individual molecules using scientific processes, including chromatography, which bombards substances with gases to separate them based on how they break down into fragments in different ways.

The scientists worked closely with French perfumer Carole Calvez and sensory museologist Sofia Collette Ehrich to recreate the scent of the embalming fluid.

The researchers describe the six complex ingredients of the embalming fluid in the journal Scientific Reports.

These complex ingredients hint at Senetnay’s extraordinary privilege, which is also evident in its presence in the Valley of the Kings – a necropolis normally reserved for pharaohs and powerful nobility.

The ingredients include resin from the Pistacia tree, which has also been used in other tombs to mummify food items such as chicken so that people can “eat” it in the afterlife.

Miss Huber said, ‘The scent of eternity represents more than just the scent of the mummification process.

“It embodies the rich cultural, historical and spiritual significance of ancient Egyptian mortuary practices.”