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Evidence for Prehistoric Origins of Egyptian Mummification in Late Neolithic Burials Jana Jones,
Thomas F. G. Higham
Abstract
Traditional theories on ancient Egyptian mummification postulate that in the prehistoric period (i.e. the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods, 5th and 4th millennia B.C.) bodies were naturally desiccated through the action of the hot, dry desert sand. Although molding of the body with resin-impregnated linen is believed to be an early Pharaonic forerunner to more complex processes, scientific evidence for the early use of resins in artificial mummification has until now been limited to isolated occurrences during the late Old Kingdom (c. 2200 B.C.), their use becoming more apparent during the Middle Kingdom (c. 2000-1600 BC). We examined linen wrappings from bodies in securely provenanced tombs (pit graves) in the earliest recorded ancient Egyptian cemeteries at Mostagedda in the Badari region (Upper Egypt). Our investigations of these prehistoric funerary wrappings using a combination of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and thermal desorption/pyrolysis (TD/Py)-GC-MS have identified a pine resin, an aromatic plant extract, a plant gum/sugar, a natural petroleum source, and a plant oil/animal fat in directly AMS-dated funerary wrappings. Predating the earliest scientific evidence by more than a millennium, these embalming agents constitute complex, processed recipes of the same natural products, in similar proportions, as those utilized at the zenith of Pharaonic mummification some 3,000 years later. The antibacterial properties of some of these ingredients and the localized soft-tissue preservation that they would have afforded lead us to conclude that these represent the very beginnings of experimentation that would evolve into the famous mummification practice of the Pharaonic period.
Introduction
No chemical investigations or analyses of the organic compounds present in funerary wrappings of the prehistoric period (c. 4500 – 3350 BC) have ever been reported in the literature, nor has their presence as early as the fifth millennium BC been previously proposed by others [1]. It has been assumed that preservation of soft tissues was predominantly through natural processes afforded by the favorable burial environment, rather than by the complex and deliberate physico-chemical intervention that characterizes the mummification of later times [2], [3]. The Old Kingdom is generally regarded as the start of true Egyptian mummification c. 2500 BC [4], with the utilization of preservative resins becoming more evident by the Middle Kingdom (c. 2000 – 1600 BC) [5]. Where resins with preservative qualities have been identified in the embalming agents, the mummies have generally been of a relatively late date [6], [7], [8], [9], [10], [11], although a conifer resin has been identified in one mummy from the late Old Kingdom (c. 2200 BC) [12].
Modern investigative chemical techniques applied to securely provenanced and dated mummies and embalming material [6], [8], [12], [13], [14], [15] have provided insights into the organic materials used in mummification during Egypt's Pharaonic period (c. 2900 – 332 BC) [16]. Yet there have been no such studies prior to this period.
Here we present the first chemical investigation of directly AMS-dated linen funerary wrappings, skin and ‘reed’ matting material from bodies in securely provenanced Badarian (Late Neolithic) and Predynastic (Chalcolithic) period tombs (pit graves) at Mostagedda in the Badari region, Upper Egypt (c. 4500 BC – 3350 BC [16]). Specifically, analysis was undertaken on textile wrappings impregnated with ‘resin’ (sensu lato), which is regarded as the main component of early Pharaonic attempts at corporeal preservation before the later introduction (c. 2500 BC) of a desiccant (natron) and evisceration [17].
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Evidence for Prehistoric Origins of Egyptian Mummification in Late Neolithic Burials Jana Jones,
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