21–30 of 57 posts
If they had said mastic I would have been there like a shot. Mastic and gum-arabic were used extensively in the ancient world.
Mastica(sp?) is still chewed today in Greece as some kind of chewing gum. I wonder if the word “masticate” zcomes from this ie vice versa
It does, the plant's resin is named after the Greek verb meaning "to chew".
If they had said mastic I would have been there like a shot. Mastic and gum-arabic were used extensively in the ancient world.
Mastica(sp?) is still chewed today in Greece as some kind of chewing gum. I wonder if the word “masticate” zcomes from this ie vice versa
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsoureki
And liqueur:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastika
Etymologically, it looks like the root word means "chew", and i would guess that mastikha is named for that, rather than vice versa:
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CE%BC%CE%B1%CF%83%CF%84%CE%B...
I love the clash of deeply detailed language like "we vaporized the samples and used ‘Gas Chromatography – Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS)’ and separated the molecules" with them using 'black goo' as a term. I am fascinated that the goo wasn't just a random choice for mummification but apparently had spiritual/cultural significance. Never knew too much about Egyptian culture but this being a sort of 'regeneration' symbol,…
I would argue that 'black goo' is the most deeply detailed and technical term that could be used for such a substance. I think we can both agree that one cannot argue that it is not black. Now read the following definition of goo:
Noun. Any semi-solid or liquid substance; especially one that is sticky, gummy or slippery; frequently of vague or unknown composition, or a bodily fluid.
Can you think of any more precise and technical term for such a substance? :-)
what I understand is that they didn't measure the ingredients, but rather put how much they thought was good
Some statues are also covered with pitch so maybe it was also used as a theft deterrent. The pitch covered statues are the best evidence that the pitch was ritualistic rather than functional, in my opinion.
I guessed quite a few of these ingredients because I work with beeswax, tree resins and plant oils in the wood shop, particularly when doing instruments. I was surprised about the bitumen and its origin story (floating blobs in the dead sea). That stuff looks like bitumen but I did not expect that they had petroleum products so long ago. I use lots of materials in my craft that were once used by the ancient Egyptians…
> I was surprised about the bitumen and its origin story Interesting, bitumen was the first (and only) thing I thought of.
The Ancient Egyptians mummified bodies for over 2000 years, surely they must have inspected ancient mummified bodies, even if religiously taboo, maybe when grave robbers broke into a tomb, and adapted their practices accordingly.
>The exact ingredients vary from one coffin to the next, but the goo was always made from some of these ingredients what I understand is that they didn't measure the ingredients, but rather put how much they thought was good
The black goo is bitumen, or tar. It is the binder used in road asphalt and was a common pitch used to seal boat hulls. The article focuses on the ritualistic aspect but doesn’t focus on the functional reasons. Sealing the mummified remains from the elements, sealing in the gasses and smells from mummification/decomposition, and gluing the sarcophagus seem like reasonable functional explanations. Some statues are als…