A preserved body was considered by the Egyptians as a prerequisite for life after death. Now, a lucky find reveals what ingredients embalmers really used to make mummies out of corpses.
from
Jacob Wetzel
Maybe the three kings are to blame. The Bible says that astrologers from the east are said to have brought three treasures to the baby Jesus: in addition to gold, there were also two aromatic resins with cult significance, frankincense and myrrh. And perhaps it’s because Egyptologists had these two fragrant substances in mind when they read in ancient writings that the Egyptians ritually embalmed their pharaohs and other high-ranking figures with a substance called “Antiu.” In any case, “Antiu” is often translated as myrrh or frankincense. But both are probably wrong.