Few visitors wandering through the mummy galleries at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo have the opportunity—or perhaps the inclination—to smell the aromas wafting off the gilded sarcophagi and elaborately wrapped bodies of ancient Egyptian elites on display in glass cases.

Even around 5,000 years after their embalming, Strlič and collaborators described the bodies as smelling “pleasant.” This is largely thanks to the materials applied to the mummies, which included scented waxes, coniferous resins and oils made from pine, cedar, and juniper, as well as gum resins such as frankincense and myrrh.

Researchers who sniffed mummified remains in the name of science were greeted more with a blessing than a curse.

Ancient Egyptian mummified bodies smell ‘woody, spicy and sweet’, a study has found. It is the first time that the odour of mummified bodies have been systematically explored. The research, led by scientists from University College London and the University of Ljubljana,

The team’s approach could inspire museums to entertain visitors with odorous features such as smellscapes. In fact, the researchers now plan to reconstruct the smell of ancient mummified bodies in order to share this nontraditional approach to studying Egyptian mummies, as well as highlight an ancient olfactory heritage.

We know what they look like, and even sound like, but there’s one question you might not have pondered: what do ancient Egyptian mummies smell like? Whether you wanted to know or not, scientists have now given us an answer.

Scientists used an 'electronic nose' (and good old biological sniffers) to reveal the scents of ancient mummies.

Scientists discover a surprisingly pleasant fragrance emitted by ancient Egyptian mummies, defying expectations and offering new insights into mummification and preservation.

Scientists sniffed ancient Egyptian mummified bodies for a new study published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

A new study has revealed what ancient Egyptian mummies smell like – and the results might surprise you. Researchers from UCL and the University of Ljubljana looked into details about mummification practices in the ancient civilisation and found that the bodies smelled ‘woody,