Have you ever wondered what mummies smell like?

AlArabiya English

Have you ever wondered what mummies actually smell like?  Well, researchers sniffed 5,000-year-old Egyptian mummies in the name of science, and what they found was a bit surprising.

Transcript

00:00What if I told you mummies actually smell good?

00:02I know that sounds a bit unbelievable, but researchers sniffed 5,000-year-old Egyptian mummies in the name of science,

00:09and what they found out was a bit surprising. They didn't smell like decaying bodies.

00:14Instead, the scientists reported smelling scents they described as woody, spicy, and even sweet.

00:20Some mummies had floral notes like pine and juniper.

00:23But just to be clear, the researchers didn't smell the actual mummies or touch them.

00:28They used high-tech sniffing methods to analyze the air molecules around these mummies.

00:33So why would a 5,000-year-old mummy smell pleasant?

00:36Well, ancient Egyptians used special oils, resins, and balms to preserve bodies for the afterlife.

00:42Pleasant smells meant purity, bad smells a sign of corruption and decay, and these scents might reveal

00:49what a social class a mummy belonged to.

00:52The more upper-class a person was, the better they smell in the afterlife.

00:56And this research isn't just about curiosity. Scientists say it could help museums preserve mummies for even longer.

01:03But there's more. Scientists now want to recreate these ancient scents for museum visitors.

01:08So just imagine walking into an exhibit and being able to literally smell history.

01:13So be honest. Would you actually want to smell a 5,000-year-old mummy, or is that a hard no?

01:18Let us know in the comments.

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