Scholz vows support for ‘free and safe’ Syria

LONDON: At first whiff, it sounds repulsive: sniff the essence of an ancient corpse.
But researchers who indulged their curiosity in the name of science found that well-preserved Egyptian mummies actually smell pretty good.
“In films and books, terrible things happen to those who smell mummified bodies,” said Cecilia Bembibre, director of research at University College London’s Institute for Sustainable Heritage. “We were surprised at the pleasantness of them.”
“Woody,” “spicy” and “sweet” were the leading descriptions from what sounded more like a wine tasting than a mummy sniffing exercise. Floral notes were also detected, which could be from pine and juniper resins used in embalming.
The study published Thursday in the Journal of the American Chemical Society used both chemical analysis and a panel of human sniffers to evaluate the odors from nine mummies as old as 5,000 years that had been either in storage or on display at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
The researchers wanted to systematically study the smell of mummies because it has long been a subject of fascination for the public and researchers alike, said Bembibre, one of the report’s authors. Archaeologists, historians, conservators and even fiction writers have devoted pages of their work to the subject — for good reason.
Scent was an important consideration in the mummification process that used oils, waxes and balms to preserve the body and its spirit for the afterlife. The practice was largely reserved for pharaohs and nobility and pleasant smells were associated with purity and deities while bad odors were signs of corruption and decay.
Without sampling the mummies themselves, which would be invasive, researchers from UCL and the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia were able to measure whether aromas were coming from the archaeological item, pesticides or other products used to conserve the remains, or from deterioration due to mold, bacteria or microorganisms.
“We were quite worried that we might find notes or hints of decaying bodies, which wasn’t the case,” said Matija Strlič, a chemistry professor at the University of Ljubljana. “We were specifically worried that there might be indications of microbial degradation, but that was not the case, which means that the environment in this museum, is actually quite good in terms of preservation.”
Using technical instruments to measure and quantify air molecules emitted from sarcophagi to determine the state of preservation without touching the mummies was like the Holy Grail, Strlič said.
“It tells us potentially what social class a mummy was from and and therefore reveals a lot of information about the mummified body that is relevant not just to conservators, but to curators and archaeologists as well,” he said. “We believe that this approach is potentially of huge interest to other types of museum collections.”
Barbara Huber, a postdoctoral researcher at Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology in Germany who was not involved in the study, said the findings provide crucial data on compounds that could preserve or degrade mummified remains. The information could be used to better protect the ancient bodies for future generations.
“However, the research also underscores a key challenge: the smells detected today are not necessarily those from the time of mummification,” Huber said. “Over thousands of years, evaporation, oxidation, and even storage conditions have significantly altered the original scent profile.”
Huber authored a study two years ago that analyzed residue from a jar that had contained mummified organs of a noblewoman to identify embalming ingredients, their origins and what they revealed about trade routes. She then worked with a perfumer to create an interpretation of the embalming scent, known as “Scent of Eternity,” for an exhibition at the Moesgaard Museum in Denmark.
Researchers of the current study hope to do something similar, using their findings to develop “smellscapes” to artificially recreate the scents they detected and enhance the experience for future museumgoers.
“Museums have been called white cubes, where you are prompted to read, to see, to approach everything from a distance with your eyes,” Bembibre said. “Observing the mummified bodies through a glass case reduces the experience because we don’t get to smell them. We don’t get to know about the mummification process in an experiential way, which is one of the ways that we understand and engage with the world.”

PARIS: France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Thursday that the EU was working toward swiftly easing Syria sanctions as Paris hosted a conference on the transition in the war-torn country after President Bashar Assad’s fall.

Opposition fighters toppled Assad in December after a lightning offensive.

The new authorities, headed by interim leader Ahmad Al-Sharaa, have sought to reassure the international community that they have broken with their jihadist past and will respect the rights of minorities.

They have been lobbying the West to ease sanctions imposed against Assad to allow the country to rebuild its economy after five decades of his family’s rule and almost 14 years of civil war.

“We are working with my European counterparts toward a rapid lifting of sectorial economic sanctions,” Barrot said, after EU foreign ministers agreed last month to ease them, starting with key sectors such as energy.

Syria’s Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani is in Paris for the conference, in his first such official visit to Europe for talks after he attended the World Economic Forum in Davos last month.

The French presidency said earlier that the United States, Germany, Britain, the European Union and the United Nations were also to be represented, as were several Gulf nations and Syria’s northern neighbor Turkiye.

French President Emmanuel Macron is due to address attendees.

There has been concern among Western governments over the direction the new Syrian leadership will take in particular on religious freedom, women’s rights and the status of the Kurdish minority in the northeast of Syria.

Shaibani on Wednesday said a new government would take over next month from the interim cabinet, vowing that it would represent all Syrians in their diversity.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, ahead of the Paris meeting, emphasized the need for “all actors” in Syria to be included.

“It is essential that women be represented,” she said.

Several diplomatic sources had said the conference also aimed to focus on protecting Syria from destabilizing foreign interference and coordinating aid efforts.

Turkish-backed factions launched attacks against Kurdish-held areas in northern Syria at around the same time as the offensive that overthrew Assad, and have since seized strategic areas.