A mummified skull dating to the eighth century BC has yielded compounds associated with the Aloe genus, providing the first molecular evidence of aloe-derived products in materials connected with ancient Egyptian mummification. The findings come from a study by researchers at the University of Marburg in Germany, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
The team examined 24 objects from university and museum collections, including mummified human remains, bandages, embalming residues and historical medicinal preparations. In the skull and an 18th-century pharmaceutical preparation from the former Löwen pharmacy in Offenbach am Main, researchers detected molecules related to aloin and aloesins A and D.
These compounds support the presence of substances derived from Aloe plants in the two samples. However, the analysis could not identify the specific plant species or establish how the materials were originally prepared. Because aloe-related compounds appeared in only two of the 24 objects, the findings do not show that aloe was a widespread ingredient in embalming recipes.
To help interpret the chemical results, the researchers studied 41 written sources on Egyptian funerary practices and the history of pharmacy. They considered the ancient term nḫ-jm.j, recorded in texts from the second millennium BC. Some descriptions of its properties and uses may point to aloe or a product made from the plant, but its botanical identification remains uncertain.
The study also highlights that the word “aloe” has historically referred to more than plants in the Aloe genus. It could also describe other aromatic plant materials, including agarwood from Aquilaria trees. The molecular profiles in the samples, however, were consistent with Aloe-derived products rather than agarwood.
The findings may also inform research into Mumia vera aegyptiaca, medicinal substances used in Europe during the late Middle Ages and the early modern period. These preparations were made from materials taken from mummies and substances associated with embalming, and their composition varied. While some medieval sources linked aloe with such remedies, the new evidence does not demonstrate an unbroken transmission of recipes or show that later remedy-makers had direct knowledge of Egyptian embalming practices.
Using metabolomics, the researchers compared molecules across the collection and found chemical similarities between a mummified head and a separately catalogued powder at the German Pharmacy Museum in Heidelberg. The match may indicate a shared origin or historical connection, although it does not prove common provenance.
The study also tested the biological properties of selected historical medicinal preparations. An extract from the Wigand medicinal collection in Marburg showed a moderate protective effect against cell damage associated with influenza virus in laboratory cell cultures. The main isolated compound did not produce the same effect on its own, and the experiments do not establish that the historical remedies prevented or treated influenza in people.
Sources: elDiario.es.