Ritual anointing : an investigation into the coatings applied to human hair and coffins in ancient Egypt
In ancient Egypt the body was often anointed with scented oils and unguents not only for everyday toilette but also for ritual and religious ceremonies. The main religious context was during mummification when the body was anointed with unguents during ritual parts of the procedure, and also with substances for preservation. In some instances the anointing was extended to include the entire mummy, cartonnage, coffin and funerary furniture such as shabti boxes. Whilst extensive research into the materials used for preservation has been carried out, it has focused on samples taken from the body and bandages. This study explores anointing in ancient Egypt by analysing samples from ancient remains, analysed by microscopy and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. In some rare circumstances the wrapped mummy, cartonnage, coffin and funerary items were coated with a black unguent, the composition and purpose of which was unknown. Coating such items which included finely painted scenes with an opaque black substance raised the question whether the coating was intended to be black or not? The hypothesis was that if the coating contained bitumen (a naturally black substance), then it would have been black at the time
McCreesh, Natalie Claire
Ritual anointing : an investigation into the coatings applied to human hair and coffins in ancient Egypt. In ancient Egypt the body was often anointed with scented oils and unguents not only for everyday toilette but also for ritual and religious ceremonies. The main religious context was during mummification when the body was anointed with unguents during ritual parts of the procedure, and also with substances for preservation. In some instances the anointing was extended to include the entire mummy, cartonnage, coffin and funerary furniture such as shabti boxes. Whilst extensive research into the materials used for preservation has been carried out, it has focused on samples taken from the body and bandages. This study explores anointing in ancient Egypt by analysing samples from ancient remains, analysed by microscopy and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. In some rare circumstances the wrapped mummy, cartonnage, coffin and funerary items were coated with a black unguent, the composition and purpose of which was unknown. Coating such items which included finely painted scenes with an opaque black substance raised the question whether the coating was intended to be black or not? The hypothesis was that if the coating contained bitumen (a naturally black substance), then it would have been black at the time
ritual investigation apply human hair coffin ancient_egypt ancient_egypt body often anoint oil everyday also ritual religious ceremony main religious_context mummification body anoint ritual part procedure also preservation instance anoint extend include entire mummy coffin funerary furniture box whilst extensive material use preservation carry focus sample_take body study_explore anoint ancient_egypt analysing sample ancient remain analyse microscopy gas_chromatography mass_spectrometry rare circumstance wrap mummy coffin funerary item black composition purpose unknown item include finely paint scene opaque black substance raise_question whether intend black hypothesis contain bitumen naturally black substance would black time