Scientists have discovered the secrets of mummy-making:
CHEMISTS FROM the University of Tübingen and the Munich-based Doerner-Institut replicated an ancient treatment of cedar wood and found it contained a preservative chemical called guaiacol.
“Modern science has finally found the secret of why some mummies can last for thousands of years,” Ulrich Weser of the University of Tübingen told Reuters Wednesday.
The team then tested the chemicals found in the cedar derivative on fresh pig ribs. They found it had an extremely high antibacterial effect without damaging body tissue.
Of course, the best way to combine cedar and pig ribs is in a pit barbecue, but you've got to give the Egyptians credit here. And it exposes scientific presumptions (always fun to do), which led them away from the truth:
The findings, published in Thursday’s issue of the journal Nature, will surprise Egyptologists who had thought the embalming oil was extracted from juniper rather than cedar.
The team also tested juniper extracts but found they did not contain the guaiacol preservatives.
Weser said that, despite ancient mentions of “cedar-juice,” scholars believed juniper to be the source because of similar Greek names and some mummies being found clutching juniper berries.
Hmmm, scientists being led away from the truth because of predetermined biases...
No comments:
Post a Comment