What Scents did the Ancient Egyptians use?
Researchers in Bonn aim to recreate a 3,500-year-old scent
The Ancient Egyptians cherished their fragrant scents, too, as perfume
flacons from this period indicate. In its permanent exhibition, Bonn
University´s Egyptian Museum has a particularly well preserved example on
display. Screening this 3,500-year-old flacon with a computer tomograph,
scientists at the university detected the desiccated residues of a fluid, which
they now want to submit to further analysis. They might even succeed in
reconstructing this scent - which would be a worldwide sensation.
Pharaoh Hatshepsut was a power-conscious woman who assumed the reins of
government in Egypt around the year 1479 B.C. In actual fact, she was only
supposed to represent her step-son Thutmose III, who was three years old at the
time, until he was old enough to take over. But the interregnum lasted 20
years. "She systematically kept Thutmose out of power", says Michael
Höveler-Müller, the curator of Bonn University´s Egyptian Museum.
Hatshepsut´s perfume is also presumably a demonstration of her power. "We think it probable that one constituent was incense - the scent of the gods",
Michael Höveler-Müller declares. This idea is not so wide of the mark, as it is
a known fact that in the course of her regency Haptshepsut undertook an
expedition to Punt - the modern Eritrea, and the Egyptians had been importing
precious goods such as ebony, ivory, gold, and just this incense, from there
since the third millennium B.C. Apparently the expedition brought back whole
incense plants, which Hatshepsut then had planted in the vicinity of her
funerary temple.
World Premier with an interesting Result
The
filigree flacon now under examination by the researchers in Bonn bears an
inscription with the name of the Pharaoh. Hence it was probably once in her
possession. The vessel is exceptionally well preserved. "So we considered it
might be rewarding to have it screened in the University Clinic´s Radiology
Department", Höveler-Müller explains. "As far as I know this has never been done
before".
This world premier will now in all probability be followed by
another one: "The desiccated residues of a fluid can be clearly discerned in the
x-ray photographs", the museum´s curator explains. "Our pharmacologists are now
going to analyse this sediment". The results could be available in a good year´s
time. If they are successful, the scientists in Bonn are even hoping to "reconstruct" the perfume so that, 3,500 years after the death of the woman
amongst whose possessions it was found, the scent could then be revitalised.
Hatshepsut died in 1457 B.C. Analysis of the mummy ascribed to her
showed that the ruler was apparently between 45 and 60 years of age at the end
of her life; that she was also overweight, and suffering from diabetes, cancer,
osteoporosis and arthritis. Obviously for reasons of security, she was laid to
rest in the tomb of her wet nurse. In 1903, over 3,300 years later, the famous
Egyptologist Howard Carter stumbled upon the two mummies. However, more than 100
years were to pass before the Pharaoh´s corpse could be identified using DNA and
dental analysis in the year 2007. Thutmose III, incidentally, appears not to
have shed a single tear for his step-mother, as during his reign he had every
image destroyed which showed her as ruler, and which could have belonged to her.
Images related to this press release may be viewed in the Internet under
http://www.uni-bonn.de >> Aktuelles
>> Presseinformationen.
Contact:
Michael
Höveler-Müller
Ägyptisches Museum der Universität Bonn
Telephone:
0228/73-9710
E-mail: [Email protection active, please enable JavaScript.]
