Archaeologists working at the ancient city of Oxyrhynchus in Egypt have unearthed a mummy with a passage from Homer’s “Iliad” ...

Many centuries later, Roman-era embalmers in the Egyptian desert took those same verses and tucked them inside the gut of a ...

The mummy had been buried during the Roman period in Oxyrhynchus about 1,600 years ago. It is the first time a Greek literary ...

The Egyptians carefully removed organs such as the lungs, liver, stomach and intestines during the mummification process to prevent bacterial growth and better preserve the body. Egyptians believed in ...

In a recent study published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, Wanyue Zhao and her colleagues used volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to analyze the composition of scents given off by mummies ...

The funerary practices of the ancient Egyptians can still reveal surprising information. In a recent analysis of the 3,500-year-old remains of the noblewoman Senetnay, found in jars in the Valley of ...

Unknown artist, “Mesu Smelling a Lotus” (c. 1525–1504 BCE), New Kingdom, Thebes, Egypt (image via Metropolitan Museum of Art) What did ancient mummies smell like? What types of scents, perfumes, and ...

In 2023, scientists identified the compounds in the balms used to mummify the organs of an ancient Egyptian noblewoman, suggesting that the recipes were unusually complex and used ingredients not ...

Scientists have decoded an ancient aroma by identifying the ingredients used in Egyptian mummification balms — and resurrected the scent. Those eager to sample this whiff of the past will be able to ...