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Wiley InterScience | ||||||||||||
  ArchaeometryVolume 44 Issue 2, Pages 285 - 293 Published Online: 16 Dec 2002 © 2010 University of Oxford Published on behalf of the Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford
Abstract | Full Text: PDF (Size: 168K) | Related Articles | Citation Tracking  Sources of mummy bitumen in ancient Egypt and Palestine Copyright University of Oxford, 2002 ABSTRACTBitumen used as a preservative in ancient Egyptian mummies was previously thought to come only from the Dead Sea in Palestine. Other, closer sources of bitumen were investigated at Abu Durba and Gebel Zeit on the shores of Egypt's Gulf of Suez. Bitumen from these localities and from five mummies was analysed using molecular biomarkers derived from gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. It was found that four of the mummies contained Dead Sea bitumen, and the fifth and oldest (900 bc) had bitumen from Gebel Zeit, thus providing the first evidence for the use of an indigenous source of bitumen in ancient Egypt. | 
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