You know how mummies look. But how do they smell? If you’re thinking “kind of gross,” the real answer might surprise you.
A new study revealed that the air around ancient Egyptian mummies often smells woody, spicy, or even sweet. A team of international researchers zeroed in on the odors by sticking tiny tubes into the coffins of nine mummies for a whiff. The bodies ranged from about 1,500 to 3,500 years old.
How can bodies that have been around for so long smell pleasant? The mummification process plays a big role, says Cecilia Bembibre, one of the study’s authors. Ancient Egyptians prepared the dead with substances like frankincense, myrrh, pine, and cinnamon. Some of the same scents are used in today’s perfumes, she points out.
Plus, some of the mummies are in wood coffins, and the rotting wood gives off a vanilla-like aroma. Museums also use things like lemon and orange oil to protect mummies from insects.
The mummies did give off unpleasant smells too, like those of dust and mold. But the good smells won out. Ancient Egyptians would be happy about that, Bembibre says. “[They] believed that in order to go to the afterlife, the body had to have a pleasant smell.”
—Sean Price