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Secrets of Imported Ingredients in Egyptian Mummification
Mummification was an expensive undertaking. To preserve the internal organs of an Egyptian woman who lived 3,400 years ago, mainly foreign ingredients were employed. Among them were aromatic resins. Scientists have even reconstructed the scent of these substances.
Researchers analyzed substances preserved in two so-called canopic jars. These were stone vessels in which the mummified internal organs removed during the embalming process of the deceased were placed. Typically, four jars were placed alongside the coffin, each containing a different organ.
Canopic Jars of the Egyptian Lady Senetnaj
The examined vessels belonged to a woman named Senetnaj, who lived during the reign of Pharaoh Amenhotep II, ruler of the 18th dynasty, approximately 3,400 years ago. According to Egyptologists, she was the wet nurse of this ruler, meaning she breastfed the young prince.
For her services, she was honored in a special way. After her death, she was buried in a pharaonic tomb in the Valley of the Kings in the Theban necropolis. The discovery of this tomb was made by the famous archaeologist Howard Carter, who later announced the sensational discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb.
