Effective Mummification Compounds Used in Pharaonic Egypt: Reactivity on Bone Alkaline Phosphatase By Ursula Baumer

https://www.academia.edu/125177430/Effective_Mummification_Compounds_Used_in_Pharaonic_Egypt_Reactivity_on_Bone_Alkaline_Phosphatase?nav_from=568b370c-26ce-4ec1-9e4b-63ddee06635f In Pharaonic Egypt from the Old Kingdom up to the Ptolemaic Period the deceased were pre-treated in the course of the mummification process using a wealth of embalming components including resins and many different wood tars. GC/MS studies allowed the elucidation of a great number of clearly separated compounds found in the ancient embalming material. Phenols, guaiacols, naphthalenes, monoterpenes, sesquiterpenoids, oxidised diterpene resin acids and triterpenoids were noticed. These results and particularly the detection of an unused embalming material shed some new light on the possible way as to how the different embalming materials might have been prepared and applied. It was striking to see the accordance of the present data with the well-known treatises by Herodotus (490-425 B. C.) and by Pliny the Elder (23/24-79 A. C.). The impact of the historical observations on modern science and in return the dramatic promotion of ancient texts stimulated by the present study is intrigui...