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Nicole Boivin, Professor, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology

What would an ancient Egyptian corpse have smelled like? Pine, balsam and bitumen – if you were nobility

Museum August Kestner, Hannover. Photo: Christian Tepper.

In 1900 – some 22 years before he discovered the tomb of Tutankhamen – British archaeologist Howard Carter opened another tomb in the Valley of the Kings. In tomb KV42, Carter found the remains of a noblewoman called Senetnay, who died around 1450 BCE.

More than a century later, a French perfumer has recreated one of the scents used in Senetnay’s mummification. And the link between these two events is our research, published today in Scientific Reports, which delves into the ingredients of this ancient Egyptian balm recipe.

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