Egypt · 8th century BC · Marburg University collections, Hesse, Germany
Chemical traces of aloe found in 2,700-year-old Egyptian mummy skull
It is the first molecular evidence of aloe in Egyptian embalming, and it may explain why medieval medical writers linked mummy-based medicine with the plant.
Marburg University collections, Germany Researchers at Marburg University in Germany have found chemical compounds that point to aloe in ancient Egyptian embalming material. They came from a mummified skull radiocarbon-dated to the 8th century BC, about 2,700 years ago. It is the first time compounds pointing to aloe have been identified in Egyptian embalming material through molecular analysis.
The result bears on an old puzzle. Medieval European medical writers claimed that Egyptian mummies contained aloe, and some scholars thought they were guessing. The team published its findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The first author is Tim Berger.
The study combined chemical analysis with Egyptology and the history of pharmacy. The researchers examined 24 historical objects from university and museum collections. The skull is kept in the Zoological Collection of Marburg University.
Medicine made from mummies
In the late Middle Ages and the early modern period, European medicine used a substance called Mumia vera aegyptiaca. It could come from mummy remains or from the materials used to preserve them. It could also be a product traded as a medicinal preparation. Medieval writers connected mummy material with aloe, a plant known for its medicinal uses.
By then, much of the practical knowledge of Egyptian mummification had been lost. Some scholars therefore thought the medieval references to aloe were speculation. They suspected the writers drew on biblical accounts of burial instead.
“It was previously assumed that the authors of these texts were speculating and relying on biblical passages (e.g., John 19:39), as knowledge about ancient Egyptian embalming had been lost. The new findings suggest that this association may have deeper historical roots.”
Tanja Pommerening, head of the Institute for the History of Pharmacy and Medicine, Marburg University
Similar compounds turned up in an 18th-century preparation of Mumia vera aegyptiaca from the Löwen Pharmacy in Offenbach am Main. That sample is now in the German Pharmacy Museum in Heidelberg.
The word "aloe" is ambiguous in old texts. It could mean plants of the genus Aloe. It could also mean agarwood, an aromatic material from trees of the genus Aquilaria. The compounds found point specifically to products from Aloe, not agarwood.
The team also went back to ancient Egyptian texts. They studied a substance called ꜥnḫ-jm.j, whose described properties and uses suggest it might have been aloe or a related plant extract. That identification remains uncertain.
Found in two of 24 objects
The study does not show that aloe was a common ingredient in mummification. Compounds pointing to it appeared in only two of the 24 objects. Its use may have depended on particular embalming traditions, historical periods or access to raw materials.
The historical samples of Mumia vera aegyptiaca varied considerably. Several contained compounds characteristic of aged conifer resins. These resins were already known to have been used in Egyptian embalming.
The team also tested whether any of the preparations fought infection. An extract from the Wigand Medicinal Collection in Marburg gave moderate protection against influenza-related cell damage in laboratory cell cultures. Its main isolated compound, 7-oxodehydroabietic acid, did not have the same effect when tested alone. The researchers therefore could not say which ingredients were responsible.
The lab results do not show that mummy medicines worked against influenza in people. Historical texts do record their use for severe cold symptoms. These included headaches, coughing, sore throats and dizziness.
The researchers also used untargeted metabolomics, which compares the whole chemical fingerprint of a sample rather than testing for set compounds. Computational and machine-learning methods supported the work. In the German Pharmacy Museum, they found striking similarities between a mummified head and a separately catalogued powder sample.
Surviving museum records do not connect the two objects. Their chemistry suggests they may once have shared a material or historical connection.
“In the long term, we aim to establish a research approach that combines historical written sources, archaeological objects, and modern natural product analysis.”
Raphael Reher, Institute of Pharmaceutical Biology and Biotechnology, Marburg University
Sources (1)
Paper: Tim Berger, Amira Naimi, Kornelia Hardes, Claudia Sachße, Ricarda Gericke, Michael Marner, Felix Mühlemeyer, Tanja Pommerening and Raphael Reher, "New molecular and historical evidence on ancient Egyptian embalming", Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)
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