From: Biniam Tekle (biniamt@dehai.org)
Date: Mon Mar 16 2009 - 07:52:02 EST
Scientists are recreating the perfume worn by ancient Egyptians
March 15, 10:56 AM
Within the next year, when scientists complete their mission of analyzing
ancient perfume residue in an Egyptian perfume bottle found in a pyramid,
you may be able to wear the scents used by ancient Egyptian royalty.
The perfume bottle, thought to belong to Pharaoh Hatshepsut, a woman who
ruled Egypt for twenty years just before 1500 B.C. E., was only recently
examined for its age and contents. “…pharmacologists are now going to
analyze (the) sediment" contained in the bottle, explains Michael
Höveler-Müller, the curator of Bonn University´s Egyptian Museum.
Unfortunately, no matter what is in the perfume, it didn’t protect
Hatshepsut from disease. Analysis of her mummy showed that she when she
died, probably in her 50s, she suffered from cancer, diabetes, arthritis and
osteoporosis. And she wasn’t very popular with her son, Thutmose III,
either. When he took over as pharaoh, he tried to wipe out her memory,
ordering his staff to destroy every image that showed her as the head of
Egypt.
Archaeologists believe that the Egyptians concocted their perfumes from
ingredients imported from ancient Punt, a place now called Eritrea in
northeast Africa.
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